


Coinciding Moments: A Festival of Bottled Hearts

by redlerred7



Series: Coinciding Moments [4]
Category: Lucky Star (Manga)
Genre: Drama, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Gen, POV Multiple, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 12:37:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 53,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14894774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redlerred7/pseuds/redlerred7
Summary: It's the last culture festival before the third years graduate and they want to make it memorable. Konata whips class 3-B into a frenzy of preparation and Kagami makes the most of 3-C. Anticipation in everyone's hearts is building. When it reaches critical mass, will it shatter?[AU, Multi POV, Drama, Romance, Friendship](This story was already pre-made and was simply transfered to AO3 from Fanfiction.net. The quality of earlier chapters may not be comparable to later ones)





	1. Let's start with this morning

**Author's Note:**

> Prepare for an extremely long arc split into three. This took me over a year to write on FanFiction.net
> 
> Once again, this is a lazy port to Ao3. Don't expect anything better than what you'll get in the original. Enjoy if you can.

It was Wednesday morning and the first day of classes since the storm hit.

Miyuki Takara was the first of the girls to wake up. A quarter to six, her eyes opened and she began struggling to get out of bed. After a few minutes of flailing her arms around hopelessly, she finally managed to sit up. The feeling of accomplishment that surged through her when she succeeded in the task of getting up made her wide awake. Conscious and alert, the pinkette began getting ready for school.

Next door to the well-endowed glasses girl, another was roused from her slumber. The mint haired stoic, Minami Iwasaki, opened her eyes and got up with nary a yawn. It was as if she was never asleep in the first place. She too made preparations for classes that day.

Several kilometers away, in an entirely different prefecture, Yutaka Kobayakawa, timid and frail first year, awoke happy and rested. As she cheerfully finished doing her hair, changing into her uniform, and packing her bag, the sound of a car screeching to a stop signaled to her that her sister had arrived to pick her up. The cute little red-head exited the Izumi house and made off with the speed-demon known as Yui Narumi.

A couple blocks or so from the Izumi residence was the Kusakabe household, from which burst out Misao Kusakabe with a half-eaten piece of toast in her mouth and a rather hurried spring in her step. The fanged brunette woke up uncharacteristically late so she was running for the station at breakneck speed so as to not miss too much of morning-practice for the track team.

Out of pure coincidence, all four of them (five if you count Yui) arrived at the school gate at about the same time – give or take a few seconds.

**LUCKY STAR**

"Good morning you two" Fuyuki Amahara, school nurse and resident supernatural-phenomenon enthusiast greeted Yutaka and Minami as they entered the room. "Did you have a good weekend? I hear many spirits appear during ominous weather like we had a few days ago. By any chance, did you encounter any?"

"Good morning, Nurse Amahara." Yutaka replied weakly "I'm sorry. I didn't meet any spirits. How about you, Minami?" to which, the mint haired girl shook her head.

"Oh? That's a shame. Neither did I…" Raven haired nurse sighed. She turned to Minami and asked "Will she be having the usual?"

"Yes. Motion sickness medicine." The stoic girl answered.

With a smile and nod, Fuyuki went to the shelves and picked out the medicine. She handed the medicine to Minami.

The taller first year looked at the shorter first year. The girl was sitting on the bed, waiting for Minami to give her the medicine, slightly pale from her ride to school. She frowned. _I don't like how her sister drives – she's too reckless. Yutaka always gets car sick because of her – and on top of that, she might even get hurt._

All those things she thought about the woman in question were true. The way Yui drives breaks any and all traffic laws to the point of molecular separation –ironic considering she's a police officer. What Minami couldn't deny, however, was Yui's skill. Despite her wildness at the wheel, she never gets into accidents. You could argue that fortune simply favored her, but, from what Minami experienced from her somewhat frequent rides with the woman, her 0% accident rate had _nothing_ to do with luck.

 _I concede. Yutaka won't REALLY get hurt. But still, Yui's driving makes her carsick. I'll have to have another talk with her someday._ With that concluding thought, she administered the medicine to the short red-head.

**LUCKY STAR**

"Good morning Shiraishi-san" Miyuki greeted the single other person in classroom 3-B.

"Moring, Takara-san" He greeted drowsily. His eyelids drooped, and his head was swaying. It was obvious he was sleepy

"I take it you didn't have must rest last night" the pinkette guessed

"Yeah, you could say that…"The boy put his head on his desk and groaned. "I had a little argument with Akira last night. It took a lot longer to resolve than it should have…"

"Hmm… That's unfortunate. You know, you could have just slept in. Class doesn't start for another hour or so" Miyuki checked her phone "Scratch that. It's fifty minutes actually"

"Huh…? Really…?" with a yawn, Minoru closed his eyes. "I guess I could take short nap before school starts… if that's okay with you, of course."

The glasses girl smiled. "It's not a problem. Lack of sleep can cause a decrease in overall performance. I'd rather not have any of my friends do badly in anything they do today."

"Heh. I guess so…" After a short chuckle, Minoru drifted off into sleep.

Shortly before taking her seat, Miyuki checked to see if the boy was really asleep. Confirming that Minoru had truly gone from the world of the waking, she sat down and began skimming through her text books.

**LUCKY STAR**

"Damn it, Kusakabe! You're late! This never happened before and now it's happening every other day! What's going on!?" The tract team captain wasn't keen on tardiness. Considering that that track members were supposed to be fast, it wasn't surprising she didn't like people showing up late.

Misao scratched her cheek in embarrassment. "I'm sorry cap. Had a really long nap yesterday. Messed with my sleeping times."

The girl didn't look like she was convinced "Make sure it doesn't happen again. As punishment, fifty laps around the entire field. I want you done in ten minutes"

"But-"

"No buts, Kusakabe. Now move it. I wanted you running fifteen minutes ago."

With a sigh, Misao ran the track. One lap. _This is a challenge, Misao._ She took a deep breath. Two laps. _Punishment or not, you know you like to be challenged_. With a determined smirk, she picked up her pace. Three laps. _I won't back down!_ As if using the force of her will as fuel, the tanned track player shot forward like a jet with its afterburner turned on, quickly completing the fourth lap and then some. That captain wanted her done in ten minutes? She finished in four.

When Misao returned to the captain, she was uncharacteristically worn out – she was out of breath and sweating bullets. "Yo, cap… Done…"

This earned a light chop to the forehead. "What the hell are you doing, Kusakabe? Are you trying to kill yourself?" The soft hit was enough to send Misao lying on her butt, clutching her head. "Granted, you were amazing back there, but look at you now. Pace yourself, girl!"

With an embarrassed chuckle, the fanged girl lied down on the grass. "Heh… Then maybe… that wasn't… a good punishment… to give me…"

"You don't say" The captain dead panned. She looked at the girl sprawled on the ground with frustration clear in her face. "You know what? I've found a better punishment for you." She turned to a random first year runner "Satomi, bring Kusakabe to the nurse's office! She's done for today!"

The freshman boy stood up straight at the mention of his name "Y-yes ma'am!" With a salute, he took the exhausted girl from the ground and began dragging her to the infirmary.

Misao grimaced. _Well, that could have gone better._ That captain seemed to have figured out exactly what would be considered punishing for her. _Probably shouldn't have pushed myself. I WAS sick just yesterday._ With a sigh, she resigned herself to her fate. _If not today,_ a _t least I'll still be able to practice tomorrow…_

**LUCKY STAR**

"Kagami, it's time to wake up" Tsukasa said, poking the sleeping girl's face

"… Five more minutes…" Kagami groaned, rolling over so that she was facing the wall

The younger twin blinked. _This feels weird…_

While it was no longer considered a miracle, Tsukasa waking up before Kagami was still a rare occurrence (the Hiiragi twins more often woke up at the same time those days). That said, it wasn't much of a wonder that Tsukasa felt weirded out by her situation – considering the older twin's response to her attempts to wake her, even more so.

"Sis, it's time to wake up!" She said, putting as much aggression as she could into her words. She was getting better at it, to say the least.

 _That_ was what woke her up. "W-w-what happened!" The older twin sat up in a sudden fit of panic.

"It's time for school, Kagami. We might get late."

With a sigh, Kagami lied back down. "I'll be down in a minute"

Tsukasa nodded and closed the door to Kagami's room, leaving said girl to her thoughts.

 _I didn't know Tsukasa was at Miyuki's house yesterday…_ Kagami scowled. _Even more than that, I didn't expect Miyuki to actually TELL THEM… and I really wanted to tell them myself…_ Her expression softened. _Then again, if I was going to tell them about it anyway, why wait…?_ Kagami covered her eyes with her hands. _Uhhhhg. Why am I making this such a big deal? At least they know I have feelings for Misao now… speaking of which…_ With a bit of effort, Kagami sat up and rested her chin on her hand. _I KNOW I've been in love with Misao for a long time. I just couldn't accept it and ended up lying to myself for who knows how long… But when DID I start having feelings for her?_ The question brought her pause. _I mean, now that I think about it, there's a lot to like about her. She's cheerful, athletic, hard to bring down, and I've been close to her for over twelve years – not to mention she's gorgeous…_ She blushed at the thought of Misao's lean but muscular figure. _Okay, maybe that's just my opinion, but I really do find her body attractive…_ The image of a certain blue-haired otaku flashed in her mind. _The same could be said for Konata though._ In her mind, she saw Konata's short limbs, flat chest, and overall childish appearance. _I hate to say it, but I find her attractive too…_ With a sigh and the shake of her head, the tsundere stood and began changing into her uniform. _I have REALLY weird tastes, don't I…?_

**LUCKY STAR**

"Kusakabe-senpai…" Minami said when the said girl was brought into the nurse's office.

"Yo, Iwasaki, Kobayakawa… you've ya been…" A tired Misao said as she was helped onto the bed.

"Misao-senpai, what happened?" Yutaka asked worriedly from the bed across the room from her.

After speaking with the nurse, the boy who brought the girl to the room left. The said nurse went over to the girl on the bed and checked her.

"No fever. No broken bones or sprains. Yes, the boy was right. You're just exhausted." Nurse Amahara said. She scowled. "You almost never show up here unless you're the one carrying the person sick. It's a bit strange that _you_ are the one who has a problem this time."

"I know… right?" Misao said with a weak grin.

"I suggest you have some rest. Would you like anything to eat?"

"Heh… now that you mention it…" The brunette wondered a bit. "I guess anything… from the cafeteria… would be fine with me…"

The raven-haired nurse turned to Minami. "Iwasaki, get her some food, would you?"

With a nod, the mint haired girl left the room.

**LUCKY STAR**

It was morning rush hour and the train was crowded. When the doors closed, the occupants of the train car were squeezed together. Three of those said occupants were high school girls – namely, Konata and the Hiiragi twins.

"Good morning Kagamin, and my adorable little Tsukasa" Konata chimed. She had been caught between the two sisters when the doors closed. This created a sort of sandwich – with Kagami and Tsukasa being the slices of bread and the blue haired otaku being the filling. "Have I ever mentioned how nicely your breasts are developing?"

The twins blushed. "Konata, shut up. We're in public. It's not the time to be making perverted jokes" Kagami hissed

"I'm sorry. Yours are so in-my-face that it's hard not to notice." Konata said, voice slightly muffled by Kagami's boobs. "Besides. Even if I ignore what's right before my eyes, I'll still be thinking of Tsukasa's at the back of my mind." She added, leaning backward into Tsukasa chest.

"Konata" The twin-tailed girl said sternly

"If it's any consolation, yours feel bigger." The bluenette added. "Not as big as Miyuki's, mind you, but bigger than Tsukasa's… no offence"

"…Um… none taken?" The younger Hiiragi replied.

"Konata, I swear. If you make one more boob related comment…" The older Hiiragi growled

"Hey, I'm only making a statement. No need to get violent" Konata defended. _I don't think it would be a good idea to further this topic. If I make Kagami mad this early in the morning, the rest of today may be a lot less pleasant than if I do otherwise_. With a sigh, Konata relented and just tried to enjoy the ride – something quite easy to do considering the twin's soothingly soft pillows cushioning her head.

**LUCKY STAR**

The two first years watched their senpai devour an entire bag of freshly baked, newly delivered, cafeteria bought bread. Misao tore through the buns, viciously ripping them into bite-sized chunks before popping them into her mouth. _It doesn't even look like she's chewing…_

When she finished eating, the kohais could only express their thoughts on what they witnessed in one word. "Wow…"

Misao heard the two and saw their awed faces "What is it?" She started looking around "What, did a fairy fly past or something?"

Minami glanced down to Yutaka who was sitting on her lap. The redhead's face was curious but conflicted. They were probably wondering about the same things so the stoic took the initiative and asked. "The way you eat… and you got better so quickly…" Minami's mind was moving faster than her mouth so she struggled to get the words out. "Just… how…"

The brunette blinked "Huh… You're right. I AM feeling better." She laughed "Heh. How about that?"

Minami raised an eyebrow. She glanced once again to the girl on her lap. _She's just as confused as I am with senpai…_ "Senpai… how?"

"How…?" Misao thought for a bit. "How…? Hmm… I don't know" She replied simply.

The two first years almost face palmed at her answer. "Uh…" Minami didn't know how to react so Yutaka took over

"It's still amazing that you can recover so quickly. I wish I was so strong" The smaller girl told Misao, saying the first thing that passed her mind. This earned a curious look from Minami.

"Aww, it's nothing. Sometimes I wish I had a weaker immune system, that way I could have sick days more often"

"Eh… right…" Yutaka said awkwardly.

Minami stared at the brunette. _She must not understand Yutaka's troubles. Didn't she ever wonder why Yutaka and I were always in the nurse's office when she went in here? But still, you say THAT in front of a sickly girl? You DARE say that in front of my girlfriend!?_ Minami's stare, despite her face showing no emotion, was the coldest stare she had ever given – it was as if she could see a person's soul and was debating whether or not they deserved to continue living.

Yutaka was distressed. Not only did she feel the mint haired girl's grip on her waist tighten, she also felt a dark aura of negative emotion seemed to explode into existence within Minami. She touched the girl's hands and glanced back. _Minami, stop…_

The sudden contact made Minami look down to see worried green eyes – eyes that could tell exactly what she was thinking. Guilt welled up inside of her. _…You said it yourself. She doesn't understand. I'll have to fix that someday. But until then, don't do anything rash. For Yutaka's sake…_

With a controlled exhale, the stoic first year checked her phone. "It's almost time for classes."

"Oh. Alright, let's go" Yutaka hopped off her lap and walked towards the door, Minami following close behind. "See you, senpai." With a smile and wave, the redhead left the room

Minami looked at Misao. "Senpai." She nodded and left as well.

After a few seconds of silence, no-longer-exhausted brunette jumped out of bed, deciding that she didn't have to rest any longer. "Right-o. Time for class… where's my bag though…" Looking around, she didn't find it anywhere. She thought back to practice earlier. "Oh god, it's still in the locker room…" With a sense of dread fueling her step, she sprinted out the nurse's office. _Will I make it!?_

**LUCKY STAR**

"Miyuki…? Miyuuukiiii…?" Konata said to the glasses girl.

When Konata and Tsukasa entered the classroom, the pinkette was sitting down with a dazed look on her face. When anyone stood in front of her, her eyes remained unfocused. Whenever someone tried to talk to her, she gave no response. Even when they tried poking her face (or in Konata's case, her breasts) she still had no reaction.

"Is she going to be alright?" Tsukasa asked worriedly

"I don't know…" Konata said, looking at Miyuki with analyzing eyes. She turned to the boy next to them "What's your take on this, Sebastian?"

"She's been like that since I woke up a few minutes ago." Minoru said. "She was fine when I fell asleep. I don't know what happened…"

"Maybe she'll wake if we startle her." Konata suggested with a mischievous smile. "What if we loosed the screws on her chair so it collapses?"

"Kona-chan, that's mean" Tsukasa scolded

"Oh, okay. I'll admit, even for me, that's taking things too far…" Konata thought for a while. "Maybe fill a paper bag with air and pop it in front of her?"

"Hmm… That might work…" Minoru commented "That's actually a pretty good idea"

"Thank you for your input, Sebastian." Konata said, graciously accepting the praise. "So, Tsukasa. You think that'll work?"

"I still think it's mean…"

"Considering your wording, I'll take that as a yes. Sebastian, you got a paper bag?" The bluenette asked. When she received the bag, she blew it up and raised it near Miyuki's face. "I'm sorry Miyuki. This might get a bit painful" She clapped her hands on the paper bag, creating an explosion loud enough to be heard from the neighboring rooms.

"My goodness!" That brought her violently into the world of the waking. "What happened!?"

**LUCKY STAR**

Class 3-C was about to begin their homeroom when suddenly they heard an explosion.

"Ignore the sound. It was just a paper bag. Probably some prank by the neighboring class." The class adviser, Hikaru Sakuraba ordered when the class began to chatter. "You can talk about it later. Right now, we're taking attendance. Now…"

Suddenly the door burst open "I'm not late." It was Misao.

"No, Ms Kusakabe, you are not." Sakuraba stated "You WERE, however, running in the hall, shouting in class and interrupting a teacher" As the brunette paled, the teacher smiled "I'll ignore it this time. Get to your seat."

With a sigh, Misao made her way to her desk.

Kagami was face palming as the entire scene transpired. _She and Konata are becoming more and more like each other with every passing day…_


	2. Rhyme alliteration lunchtime preparation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About last chapter.  
> It'd like to point out that when I first introduced, Ayano's sister, her name was Akane. I forgot that little detail in the middle of writing chapter 6. So now we have our first retcon. How about that?
> 
> Here's a REALLY SHORT chapter.

**LUCKY STAR**

It was lunch time on a Wednesday and Ryoo High was alive and bustling. It was the first day of preparation for their culture festival (which was moved back two days because of the storm) and anticipation for the upcoming event was obvious among the students and staff. For example, lessons after lunch took a back seat to give way for props making and such.

However, one particular class still had no idea what they were going to do. Namely: Class 3-B – Konata, Tsukasa, and Miyuki's class.

"Tsukasa, this is delicious!" Konata exclaimed. "As always, my adorable little chef makes me a meal this world is not worthy of!"

With a blush Tsukasa tried to calm down the blue haired otaku "Kona-chan, stop that. It's embarrassing"

"Why? This curry is culinary art that no one knows of right now! I must tell the world that this dish is divine!" Once more, Konata exclaimed, before taking in another mouthful of the mouthwatering meal that Tsukasa had prepared for her.

"You're certainly being poetic today, Konata-san" Miyuki giggled

"Hey, what can I say? If I'm to write the script for out play, I've got to practice my poetry" The bluenette said with a smirk. "Speaking of scripts, I can't write one when we don't have a decision on what we want to do."

"We'll come to a vote on it later." The pinkette said, remembering how, despite all her efforts as class rep, she couldn't get the class to agree on a story or theme.

"Doesn't poetry involve… you know… rhymes?" Tsukasa asked in confusion

Konata stood and made a dramatic pose, one foot on the chair and holding up her hand, looking upward with eyes that seem to be contemplating the meaning of life. With a somber voice she said "You are quite true. But alas, my young lass, poems do rhyme but not all the time." Konata managed a melancholic stare at the ceiling before plopping back to her seat to continue eating "Poems a pretty problematic. If you think too much then there'll be trouble. Try to keep calm – don't burst your bubble."

The two girls couldn't help but smile at the bluenette's antics "From the way you're delivering those verses, it seems better for you to be an actor than a writer" Miyuki said, with Tsukasa agreeing.

"Well, I don't know about that…"

Lunch continued as usual

**LUCKY STAR**

"Why'd it have to be a swimsuit café…?" Kagami Hiiragi, groaned.

The class of 3-C had decided earlier that morning that they were going to do a swimsuit café for the festival. As it was seen clear as day, Kagami was upset about it.

"Why…?" She lamented as she slowly ate her lunch

Classmate and girlfriend, Misao reasoned with the troubled twin-tails. "You've been going on about that for the whole day now. Don't you think you're over reacting?" after saying which, she continued eating, rather, devouring her food.

"It's autumn and we're gonna be wearing swim suits. Do you have any idea how cold that'll be?" Kagami retorted. "Besides, wouldn't you feel embarrassed, wearing so little clothing while boys ogle at you?" She said in an attempt to dissuade the brunette

Misao nearly choked. She couldn't help but laugh "Heh. I doubt they'd do that. If they know what's good for them, they won't be staring – if you ever catch them, they're done for."

A beautiful blush burned Kagami's face. "I... Uh… Of course I would…!" She averted her gaze to the ground. "I… I should be the only one to ogle you…" She muttered

Misao blinked. _Did she really just say that…? Oh my god, she did!_ The girl laughed "I can't believe you actually said that! You're pretty selfish, you know. Hahaha"

Her reaction caused the tsun in the twin-tails' tsundere to take over "L-like you aren't?! Yes, I'm selfish! Is that so bad!?"

The brunette was silent for a second before another fit of giggles came "No, it's absolutely fine. I'm glad you finally realized that" The laughter she made wasn't the kind gained from watching something funny – it was the kind gained from joy. "You've been beating yourself up so much that hearing you say that make me so happy"

Kagami drew surprise from her girlfriend's words. _She's right. Until yesterday, I've always been theso hard on myself for having conflicted feelings about Misao but ALSO having feelings for Konata at the same time…_ Her expression softened. _I kept thinking that that Misao deserved better than me, all because I held myself to such high standards. Never once did I think that my image of the perfect 'me' and the 'me' that Misao wanted were two different things._ The burning inferno of embarrassment she felt in her cheeks turned to the comforting warmth of love. _While I resented, even rejected the fact that I had needs and wants like everyone else, Misao accepted that fact. Hell she even got me to accept it myself… eventually… She's done so much for me and I've only just now started noticing them…_ A smile found its way to her mouth. _Misao, I wish it didn't take me so long to say it – and when I DID say it, I felt great. So now I'll say it again. Misao Kusakabe, I lov-_

She wasn't able to finish her thought as she was startled by the snapping of fingers in front of her face. "I'm glad you're awake. You were spaced out of a while there. I almost thought you were having another panic attack." Misao said with a chuckle. "Then again, you weren't shaking and actually smiling so I guess read that wrong and acted on impulse…"

Kagami smirked. _Once again, I'm not surprised._ "Don't worry about it" _Misao Kusakabe, I love you._

"Hey, I suddenly remembered something!" The brunette exclaimed

"Huh?"

"If you're allowed to ogle at me, does that mean I'm allowed to ogle at you?" The fanged girl asked. A fitting adjective to describe the face she made as she looked at Kagami would be 'hungry'.

Kagami's blush came back, burning brighter than before. "Sh-shut up!"

Ayano just sat there in the background, enjoying the show.

**LUCKY STAR**

Class 1-D was fairly quiet. For whatever reason, the only four people who remained in the room for lunch break were Yutaka, Minami, Hiyori, and Patricia (and one of them isn't even part of 1-D)

"So, if you didn't know yet, Hiyori and I have been dating" Patricia said "It's been nearly a month now"

Minami expected the two of them to talk eventually. She had known about the two ever since they had sex on the school roof – not that she had witnessed it. She did, however, discern from the state of Hiyori's clothes that day and the fact that she was walking weirdly that something was up. Considering that Patricia was with her, it didn't take long for Minami to figure it out. It was all but confirmed by Hiyori's red-faced reaction when she gave a brief congratulatory nod.

Yutaka, on the other hand, didn't even think of the possibility that they were dating. She did notice that Hiyori acted differently with Patricia but didn't think much of it. That said, when the two finally came out and said it, the red head was really surprised

"Wow! That's so cool" The short girl gushed "When did you start? Have you had your first kiss? What was it like?"

Hiyori sweat dropped. Leaning toward Patricia's ear, she whispered. "This was not the reaction I was expecting"

In response to the glasses-girl's comment, the blonde whispered back "Well, I did." She turned to the other two "We started two weeks into summer. It was Friday, I think. As for our first kiss, yes we have and I'd have to say, kissing a girl isn't all that different from kissing a guy…"

That last comment got their interest up. "You've kissed a guy before?" Yutaka asked

"Yup" Patricia said with a smirk.

"Who was it?"

"Oh, just some friend from America" she answered off-handedly

"A _boyfriend_?" Yutaka asked once again.

"Er… no…" She seemed to be annoyed

"Then who was he to you?"

Patricia looked at the shorter girl. The red-head was staring at her with curious emerald eyes, eagerly awaiting her answer. She frowned and glanced at Hiyori. She too kept a steady maroon gaze on her girlfriend. From the looks of it, they wanted to know – badly.

"You don't need to answer if you're not comfortable." Minami said before Yutaka could ask another question.

"Thank you" Patricia said in exasperation

Minami nodded. With a glance, she saw the red-head's eyes widen in realization before a look of shame formed on her face. With a glance to the other direction, she saw that Hiyori was still staring stubbornly at Patricia. After the glasses girl noticed that the stoic's eye were on her, she seemed to shrink a bit and reluctantly looked away from the blond.

Despite the impassive expression she showed, Minami was actually frowning _. If someone says it's their business, it should remain their business until they decide to share._ She had been taught that since childhood and as such, did not like people who pry. _She'll tell you eventually, Hiyori. Just wait._

Minami noticed someone squeeze her hand. A glance revealed it to be a sorry looking Yutaka. "I'm sorry if I was being nosy. I was just curious. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable" The red head said.

With a sigh, Patricia's expression softened. "It's fine, Yu-chan."

Minami looked once again to Hiyori, who was periodically glancing at Patricia with a very curious expression. _This could be a bad development… I doubt Hiyori will let her curiosity remain unsated but I'm scared that she might not like what Patricia's keeping from us… Of course, there's also the possibility the Patricia won't tell her anything but that poses another problem all together… then again, I might just be being paranoid and all of this would blow over… Either way, it's best to be prepared._

With the ring of the bell, lunch was left in the past and preparation for the festival had begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I over did it with the alliteration…


	3. Preparations begin

**LUCKY STAR**

"The vote is unanimous. The lead-protagonist roles go to Minoru Shiraishi and Tsukasa Hiiragi" Miyuki announced.

It took not even fifteen minutes for the class to decide on a theme for the play and half that time for Konata to make a story for it.

The play was a comedy about an incompetent monarch who tries to take over the world with the help of a knight who just happened to be stationed at the throne room when the idea was conceived (That was the gist of it. Konata's explanation to the class was a bit more detailed, though harder to understand)

The knight would be Minoru and the monarch would be Tsukasa.

People argued that Konata should be the one to play the queen, given her description of said character seemed to match her own character perfectly. Konata argued back that not only was she the writer, she was also the director. She said that if they were going to push more jobs on her, the quality of their play would take a blow.

After a bit of a one-sided debate – i.e. the majority of the class insisting that the bluenette play the lead while she pushed back their demands with all her wit and will power – they decided that Tsukasa would play the queen instead. They killed two birds with one stone in that choice: Tsukasa would be able to get over her shyness by getting pushed out of her comfort zone, and at the same time, they would see her act like Konata.

"Now for the supporting characters…"

As Miyuki and the male class rep began working on the other roles of the play, Konata was giving the two lead actors a little pre-practice pep-talk.

"So you are the leads. Not to put any pressure, but how good our play will be is entirely dependent on you two. One slip up and it's all over" The otaku's pep talk wasn't very… well, peppy. The short-haired Hiiragi twin shrunk at the thought of such a heavy burden. "That is if you don't make a suitable recovery!" Konata added. The airhead perked up.

Konata put her hands behind her back and began pacing around the two. Her face remained emotionless and her voice grew strict "That said, the first three days of festival preparation will be comprised of a tight regime in which I will whip you two into shape! By the time I'm done with you two, any mistake you make will seem like it was done on purpose!"

To most people, commanding wouldn't be the word they'd use to describe Konata Izumi – eccentric, hyperactive, and short, maybe, but never commanding. But if they saw the bluenette right then, they would consider revising their list of appropriate adjectives.

"W-wouldn't it be better if don't make any mistakes at all?" Minoru asked, absolutely terrified by the authoritative aura surrounding the shorter girl. "I mean, if we do it perfectly, there's no need for this training, right?"

The otaku stopped her pacing and faced the boy. "Perfection is an ideal that will always remain out of reach for us" She said with cold eyes "You're only human, Sebastian. You're not a god." She suddenly smirked "But you're right. The less mistakes the better, which is why the other three days of preparation will be devoted to you mastering your lines" She turned around and began walking away "Speaking of your lines, I haven't quite… er… finished the script yet…" She said nervously

As the bluenette got out of earshot, Minoru whispered to Tsukasa "When, how, and why was she acting so… so…"

"Different?" Tsukasa suggested with a tilt of her head "I don't know. The last time I saw her act like that was when she was cosplaying as Haruhi"

"Haruhi…" The boy blinked. "Well… that makes sense…" And Minoru DID think it made sense – considering he was part of a radio show catered toward otaku, it wasn't surprising that he understood.

The few seconds of respite the two had used to engage in conversation was broken when Konata returned with a box full of index cards. "I want you two to pick a card. Whichever one you pick, you have to act out the scene. No practice, no hesitation. Just do it"

"Okay…?" The two leads glanced at each other in worry. Minoru took a card and read it. _'Awkward first date'_ the card said. "Uh…" The two once again glanced at each other with exponentially increased worry and embarrassment.

"Well, don't just stand there. ACT!" Konata commanded. The two reluctantly followed the order.

**LUCKY STAR**

"Alright, you, think up some drink names for drinks _we can actually make_. You three, get the drafts on the wave pattern designs done _by the hour_. You two, stop playing the pocky game and _get the hell back to work_!"

Kagami sat down in exhaustion. It was at least an hour since preparations began and already she was about to drop. Her classmates were being very uncooperative. Need examples?

Here's one.

The entire class regretted the decision they made during the brain storming session that they did last week for what they'd do for the culture festival. The entire class was eager to leave that day so they ended up all raising their hand to the first suggestion that was offered. Now, the last thing they wanted was to walk around wearing almost nothing but the equivalent of underwear that's made for swimming, so they all but outright refuse to work. Kagami was also opposed to the idea of a swim suit café, but to the misfortune of both her and her classmates, the form had already been seen, stamped and approved by the student council (with a hard copy archived for good measure). If they wanted to change it, they'd have to jump back in time and prevent them from making the choice in the first place. They had no choice but to press on.

But wait, there's more

Once Kagami actually got them working on the little class project they were begrudgingly required to do, she found that the work being done was a far cry from what twenty-five people could accomplish. This angered Kagami greatly. Her classmates' lazy, almost apathetic, attempts at following orders were actually causing more problems which they had to work on to fix – just look at the drops of paint staining the floor just because someone couldn't be bothered to put newspaper down to cover the ground.

Suffice it to say, Kagami was having a very bad time.

 _I never liked being class rep. I hate the added responsibility they always make me carry – as if I'm not stressed enough with college entrance exams looming just around the corner._ With a sigh, the twin-tailed tsundere scanned her classroom. Twenty four classmates and half of them are goofing off. _Jeez, how did I end up in this class anyway? I was in the top ten of the school year twice in a row! My grades should have gotten me to Class A in my very first year but instead I'm in Class C! Why are all the top-notchers in every section except A? Even Miyuki, who is literally THE BEST in terms of academics, is stuck in Class B! Ugh! This just makes me so angry!_

As Kagami glowered in the corner, not quite getting the act of ' _cooling off_ ' correctly, Ayano had taken over supervising the class.

While Kagami's harsh words and shouted orders usually got them working, Ayano's smiling suggestions left people paralyzed with fear. Something about the orange haired girl's voice and expression caused one's body to seize up. Of course, the students who froze were quick to recover, going back to work as fast as possible with a nervous spring in their step. Kagami took mental note of Ayano's particular talent at motivating people.

Misao, one of the few people actually working, was transporting supplies to whichever group needed something. She was also tasked to talk to teachers when they needed to get something. She occasionally brought them snacks from the vending machine as well. Most people would think being the delivery girl was above them. Not Misao, though. She really liked her job (mostly because it never involved waiting around or sitting still.)

Kagami smiled. _I guess at least one good thing came from me being stuck in this class…_ As Kagami's mood brightened, she returned to her duty of nagging her classmates to get back to work.

**LUCKY STAR**

"You… you will have… a good time at the festival…?"

Class 1-D was doing fortune telling for the festival. They're other idea was doing a play, but in the end, fortune telling got more votes (good thing too. Else, Konata's class wouldn't have anything to do for the festival). It was unfortunate that Yutaka wasn't very good at it.

"Hmm… could you try to make that fortune a little more… I don't know… convincing?" Hiyori asked as she once again turned on the light bulb in the fake crystal ball on the table

"Oh, ah… okay…" The red-head said nervously. After taking a couple deep breaths, she looked into the glass sphere once more. "You… you will experience great joy in this festival…" She said with a certain conviction that impressed Hiyori. She paused and continued to stare at the pulsating light within the ball, then Yutaka began to tear up a little "But you… you… you will experience great sadness… shortly after" She gasped

"Uh…" Hiyori looked anxiously at Yutaka and the glowing orb before her.

"No… I don't want that to happen… no…" Yutaka said, trembling "I can't take that…!"

"Yutaka, I said make it convincing, not traumatizing!" The glasses girl said, quickly turning off the ball's light in panic.

"Aww. I was having fun" The shorter girl pouted

Hiyori sighed with relief. "Jeez. How were you able to make it look so convincing?"

As Yutaka rubbed the tears out of her eyes, she explained "I just imagined what would happen to you and reacted as if it actually happened."

"Wow… Amazing…" Hiyori said in awe of the shorter girl "You must be a really good actor..."

"Yutaka, are you okay? You looked like you were crying" Minami asked as she approached the two. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"It's okay, Minami. Hiyori told me to make my fortune telling convincing so I did"

Hiyori took out a notebook and began scribbling furiously. When the two noticed this, the raven-haired glasses-girl waved at them casually "Oh, don't mind me. Just burning off some newly acquired inspiration."

The two sweat dropped at the glasses-girl's attempt to mask her actions. They knew she was drawing them, although they didn't mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you heard of the song 'Death Should Not Have Taken Thee!'? It's a Vocaloid song sung by JesusP. It's basically Konata's story for their play. Go listen to it (or at least take a look at the lyrics) if you want the basics of what the play will be like.
> 
> Kagami's class is doing a swim suit café and the class is being lazy. Konata's class is doing a play. Yutaka's class is doing fortune telling. If that seems familiar to you then I feel your pain because I'm referencing the exact lucky star fanfic you're thinking of (unless there are others with those exact scenarios. There aren't any others which I've read)


	4. Senpai's prepping problems

**LUCKY STAR**

It was a bright and sunny Friday afternoon with partially cloudy skies and a gentle breeze all around – a far cry from the gloomy rain clouds they had one week ago. That said, the students of Ryoo were having a wonderful time preparing for the festival – even Kagami's class.

 _Okay, most of the decorations were well underway and the various equipment and storage containers for the café were accounted for._ Miraculously, Kagami had managed to get the class working with the help of Miss Sakuraba.

Earlier that day, class adviser and biology teacher, Hikaru Sakuraba, had spoken to the class in regards to their preparation for the festival. She accurately described the class as lazy, uncooperative, and disgraceful. Suffice it to say, she didn't pull any punches and 3-C felt each and every hit.

Despite their reluctance to cooperate, Kagami's classmates didn't want to disappoint their homeroom teacher. Thus, she watched the class work. _This is an amazing improvement. If I was told yesterday that the useless garbage I'm supposed to consider my classmates would be doing a good job today, I'd have slapped him for even reminding me of these people's existence. But now…_

Ayano walked up to her while holding a clipboard. It seems she's going to give a status report.

"What's the news?" Kagami asked

"Half the paint has been used up and if the usage continues at the rate it is going, we'll be out in two hours. We might also need some more cups"

She nodded "Alright. I'll have Misao go to the store later. What's next?"

Ayano flipped the page. "Decorations should be done by the end of the session. Setting up the room would take an entire day so we should save that for tomorrow or Sunday. What do you think?"

The twin-tailed girl thought for a bit. "I'd say let's do it tomorrow but ask Tezuka-san what he thinks as well. He's class rep too. He deserves a say in it"

She flipped the page once more. "Ryouko-san accidentally crushed her thumb with a hammer so she's in the infirmary. Mio-san is still sick, I called her parents earlier. I also think Rentaro-san cut class again."

"Well… that's a shame…" Kagami sighed "Anything else?"

Ayano reviewed the clipboard. "That's all."

"Good. Tell everyone they can take a break if they want. Otherwise, tell them to keep up the good work." Kagami said. "Oh, and could you take over for a few minutes? I think I need a break too."

"Well do" Ayano smiled and nodded.

Saying her farewells, Kagami left room 3-C.

**LUCKY STAR**

Class 3-B was alive with activity, with the liveliest acts being acted by the two lead actors.

"Milady, don't! It would be too dangerous!" Minoru cried dramatically, dropping to his knees and begging

"I'm sorry, but I must do this." Tsukasa said solemnly. She raised her head and clasped her hands saying "For my people" before she grew limp and fell towards the arms of Konata who caught her.

"BRILLIANT!" The blue-haired otaku exclaimed as she helped Tsukasa up. "Absolutely brilliant! You two are ready to take on the script"

For the past three days, Konata had been training her two leads to improv-act. She was surprised at how fast they picked it up. By the end of day two, they had practically mastered the art of on-the-spot acting. However, they had a certain affinity for the theatrical. They would often make things more dramatic than they had to be

"Now, the script isn't as dramatic as you two like to make it, so fair warning." Konata said as she handed them their copies. "You can change up as much of the lines as you want as long as the change isn't too drastic. You have all of today to study that. We'll try a reading of lines later." The two nodded in response "I'm proud of you… Now, dismissed!"

As the two lead actors reviewed the script, Konata sighed and relaxed her shoulders. She then went to see how the others are doing. "Yo, Miyuki… How're they doing…?"

"Oh. Hello, Konata-san." Miyuki turned to the shorter girl. "I take it that our leads have finished their ' _training_ '"

"With flying colors" She replied with a small smile and thumbs up. "All thanks to my expert guidance of course" she added smugly

"I'll take your word for it then" Miyuki giggled. "Most of the class likes the roles you've laid out for them. While all of them are minor, there's always something that distinguishes them from the other background characters."

"Well, I tried my best…" She said, bowing slightly

The bluenette surveyed the classroom. Twenty two students were doing what was asked of them, be it making costumes, practicing lines, or taking a break. She was impressed. "Gotta hand it to you, Miyuki, you got the class working like a well-oiled machine"

"It helps that they were tasked to do what they we good at." Miyuki said "You have Shiraishi-san and Satomi-san to thank for that. They really know our classmates"

"Speaking of Satomi, where IS our male class rep?" Konata asked

"He's talking with the student council right now. They asked for a status report from all of the classes participating in the festival" Was the glasses-girl's reply.

"Well, if he looks for me, tell him I'm taking a break." The otaku said as she walked towards the door. "I'll be back in a few…"

"Take as long as you need. You look tired"

**LUCKY STAR**

As Kagami exited her room, guess who she bumped into?

"Watch where you're…" The twin-tailed girl's annoyed sneer turned to a surprised rise of her eyebrows "Konata… sorry…"

"Oh, Kagami…" Konata blinked when she realized that she had walked into the tsundere. "Good afternoon."

"Afternoon…" Kagami was taken aback by the bluenette's passive voice. _She's normally so energetic. I wonder what's up…_ "So… I guess we haven't really talked much this past week huh?" Kagami cringed internally. _That awkward statement was made all the more awkward by my word choice…_

Once again, the shorter girl blinked. "Huh… guess not." She shrugged "I didn't really notice… at least I don't think I did…" She added with a confused scowl.

"Konata, you seem really out of it today" Kagami said in worry. "Is something wrong?"

"Hmm, let me think…" Konata crossed her arms and looked to a far corner of the hall. After a few seconds, she snapped her fingers "I'd say my answer in number six in that test we had in first period's wrong. I'm pretty sure I circled the wrong letter."

"Konata…" Kagami growled

"Okay, okay" The bluenette relented. "Look, I know you're worried about me, but don't be. I'm having some troubles at home but I'm finding ways to deal with it."

The tsundere didn't feel convinced. _I can sense she's telling the truth, but I think she's hiding something – no, I KNOW she's hiding something. I'm sure of it… but what?_

Konata gave the taller girl a small sad smile. "I'll be okay soon. Have a little faith in me"

Kagami frowned. _I wish I could believe you, Konata, I really do, but I can't let this go… But I know I won't be able to make you talk…_ She gritted her teeth. _I'll remember this though. If you don't get better soon, I'm going to help you with whatever you're having trouble with, whether you want me to or not._

It seems that Konata took her silence as the end to the conversation as she decided to leave. "Well… see you, Kagami"

And so Kagami was left alone in the hall, anxious and frustrated.

_What is wrong!? What is your problem!? Tell me so I can help! I can't take you looking so tired and sad like that! What's troubling you?_

Kagami worked her brain to think of a possible reason, scanning her memories for even the most obscure detail that would help her solve the mystery of what Konata's problem was. One particular conversation a few months ago seemed to jump at her the moment she started to look.

_Is money your problem? Have you been struggling with money since that day you and Tsukasa started dating? Even before that? You never said whether or not that problem was resolved, so that could be it._

More details involving Konata's situation seemed to make themselves known the more she thought. In particular, her relationship with Tsukasa.

_Tsukasa's been making her lunch for over two weeks now. Not only that, for the entire summer, she had spent nearly all of her time with us at our house – most of the time joining us for lunch. Konata, aren't you able to buy your own food? Are you on that tight of a budget that you have to rely on us?_

Kagami would almost feel like her hospitality had been taken advantage of if she didn't know she'd be fine with it anyway, especially considering her situation. Same goes to Tsukasa

_Tsukasa… does Tsukasa know?_

The twin-tailed girl who could be assumed to be rooted to the spot suddenly surged forward in a rather brisk walk. She was headed for the class next door, 3-B.

**LUCKY STAR**

_Konata's proud of me._ As warmth and happiness spread through Tsukasa's being, a certain want and determination egged her to do even better in her role as lead actress.

Two days ago, Tsukasa had to be forced into become the lead. She was shy and not very good at acting, something the short haired girl knew full well. She was very much afraid of slipping up and disappointing her classmates. Thankfully, that particular fear was remedied by Konata.

The said blue-haired otaku had given her the basics of improv as a safety precaution in case she messed up a line or fumbled an action in the middle of the play. The bluenette also gave lessons to Minoru and the rest of the class, meaning almost no mistake made during the actual play would even look like a mistake.

This extra room for error allowed for Tsukasa's fears of doing something wrong to be mitigated, and her confidence that she'd do well in the play to grow – and even if she DID make a mistake, she was given the skills necessary to fix it.

Suffice it to say, Konata has done a lot to make this play an experience she would enjoy, regardless of the accuracy in which she delivers her lines.

"Alright, done" Minoru said, standing up.

"Oh, Minoru. You've read all the script already?" Tsukasa said in surprise at his speed "All of it?"

"Nope. Just the lines I have to say" The boy replied "You don't _have_ to read everything you know."

Tsukasa blinked "…oh." As a blush appeared on her face, she returned to reading her script

"By the way, while you were spaced out, Miyuki said everyone could take five. If you want to take a restroom break or buy some food, now's that time." With that Minoru walked to another place in the classroom.

"Huh…" She decided to go to Miyuki. She didn't feel like reading and wanted someone to talk to. "Hey, Yuki-chan"

"Oh, Tsukasa-san. How are you?" the glasses-girl said

"I'm doing great, especially with the acting. Konata even said she was proud of me" Tsukasa beamed at the thought

"Well, I must say, your skill is impressive. You're a natural it seems" Miyuki noted cheerfully "How do you do it?"

"Eh…? How…?" Tsukasa pouted, deep in thought. "How…" _How DO I do it? Even Miyuki thinks I'm naturally good at this. Thinking back, I do what FEELS natural, so I guess I MUST be a natural… I wonder how Konata would answer that question._

She imagined Konata standing on a seat, back straight, arms crossed, and face stern . _She would go up to higher ground and make a speech involving anime references explain exactly how she does it._ Tsukasa smiled at the mental image.

"I guess I don't really think about it." The purple haired girl said "Konata doesn't really give me much time to think before we have to act it so…"

Miyuki chuckled "I understand. Thought I can't say her method is ineffective. Most of the class is competent with improv because of her…" The pinkette suddenly frowned. "Tsukasa, it seems someone's here to see you…"

Tsukasa turned to see Kagami by the door. _Sis… why does she look so worried?_ With more than a little apprehension, the younger twin walked towards the older twin.

**LUCKY STAR**

Konata stood in front of the restroom mirrors, glaring into her reflection. _Keep it together, girl. You can break when you get home. Just hold on for a few more hours._ She slapped her cheeks and shook her head, a determined smile appearing on her face.

"Something wrong?"

A familiar voice caused Konata to jump. "MISAKICHI! Holy Haruhi, don't sneak up on me!"

Misao grinned "Hahaha. I guess you're not the only one who's got soundless footsteps." She was carrying several paint-stained plastic cups and apparently went to the restroom to wash them. "Anyway, is something wrong?"

"Nah. Nothing's wrong." Konata said casually. Then she smirked "Not anymore at least."

"Oh? Glad you got over it, then." The brunette said "Try asking for help next time you've got trouble, though. I'm pretty sure all of your friends are willing to help"

"Is that an offer?" The otaku asked with the tilt of her head. "Because I might plan on taking it sometime soon. Not now, though."

Misao chuckled "Heh, suit yourself. Just know we're here" With that, she started cleaning the cups.

With a sad smile, Konata nodded. After a small laugh, the smile turned into a grin. "Glad to know. See ya, Misakichi"

"See ya, Chibi"

**LUCKY STAR**

"What? Something's wrong with Konata?" Tsukasa squeaked in distress.

"Definitely. She said it herself. Something about troubles at home" Kagami said with frustration. "She wouldn't tell me any more than that"

"Oh? Has her money problem gotten worse?"

The twin tailed girl blinked "You know about that?" She asked in surprise

"Yeah" The younger twin answered eagerly "I decided to make lunch for her when I found out"

 _Tsukasa knows… did she tell her? She must have… Why didn't she tell me…?_ "How long has she been having trouble?" Kagami asked

"Hmm" Tsukasa thought for a while "I think just under three months. But she did tell me her dad's gotten a pretty decent job so they don't have as many problems as before."

"Wait, doesn't her dad already have a job?" Kagami was becoming more and more anxious the more she found out. "He writes light novels right?"

"That? The publishing house that he goes to got shut down." Tsukasa stated "Konata never told me what his new job is"

The twin-tails' brow furrowed _. Konata, why didn't you tell me that as well? I get that you trust Tsukasa but don't you trust me too?_ "Her dad's got a new job, right…" The younger twin nodded. Kagami's scowl deepened "So money's not the issue, then… but what IS the issue?"

"Sis, I know you're frustrated. Trust me, I feel that way too. If Konata doesn't want us to know, there has to be a purpose." The younger twin reasoned to the older "Give her some time"

 _No. Hell no. I know from firsthand experience what it feels like to keep a big problem to myself. I am not letting her experience that too._ "… Fine…" Kagami said through clenched teeth. "We'll wait for her to ask for our help…" _I'll find out what's wrong even if it's the last thing I do._

"Oi, Tsukasa, Kagamin" The two turned to see Konata skipping across the hall. "So. Whatcha' talking about?" She asked, leaning in close to Kagami.

Kagami's face flushed and she looked away. "N-nothing…" _She seems normal now. What gives?_

"Kagami was just worried about you" Tsukasa said casually as the shorted girl switched targets and instead leaned on the younger twin who accepted her with open arms.

With her signature cat smile, Konata purred "Awww, Kagamin was worried about me?" She teased. Her smirk turned into a genuine smile "Look, I'm glad and all, but I can handle it. If I need any help, I'll ask. Okay? I know you'll help"

The statement seemed to stab Kagami with guilt. _I misinterpreted her…_ She thought with an internal wince. _I thought she was insisting on taking on a burden she couldn't carry alone, but I guess that's not the case. Konata's not like that. How could I forget? She knows exactly what she's capable of. If she can't take it, she's definitely going to ask for help… she's not me…_

Kagami was snapped out of her daze by Konata and Tsukasa clapping in front of her face "Ah. No letting your imagination go wild." The shorter girl said, waging her finger at the twin-tailed girl. " _I'm fine_ , Kagami. No overthinking. Just accept it"

The tsundere blushed and looked down. "Okay…"

"That's my Kagamin"


	5. Kohai's prepping and problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last Chapter was the senior girls scenarios. Now, here is the chapter dedicated to the first years. It was going to be a whole lot shorter (just above 1k words) but a burst of inspiration (and twinge of dissatisfaction) had caused me to rewrite entire sections of this chapter, bumping the word count to little over 3k. I hope you enjoy.

**LUCKY STAR**

Friday marked the last day in which classes would take up half of the day. For the weekend after, the festival preparations would take up the _entire_ day. That said, most of the easy stuff like making decorations, designing costumes, and brainstorming was done in the three days prior so all of the more difficult jobs could be done when they had more time.

One class, however, was pretty much done with their preparations – section D of the first years.

All the decorations were done and need only be set up and the costumes were all complete. Not only that, the class was competent in the type of fortune telling they were trying to replicate – though some were better at it than others.

"I see something very nice waiting in your future" Yutaka said cheerfully as she waved her hands around a glowing glass ball. "It involves food, music, and a certain special someone."

The girl Yutaka was practicing fortune telling with blushed. "H-how did you-"

"Shh. The spirits from the other side told me" The shorter girl said. "If you make the right choices, it will end wonderfully"

At this point, the entire class was in awe of Yutaka's skill. They were always surprised, no matter how many times she accurately predicts something to happen. It was as if she knew, in detail, her classmates' life, personality, and mindset, and could accurately judge the most likely thing that will happen to them. Granted, she DID know all those things, what with her ability to read people, but still...

"She's amazing isn't she?" Hiyori told Minami. The raven haired was one of the first people to witness Yutaka's ability used in fortune telling.

Minami smiled and nodded. As she watched Yutaka practice, she felt pride well up in her. The shy and frail girl was not as shy or frail as most people made out her to be and Minami was happy to see people finally see that.

But she also felt more than a bit of jealousy. Yutaka had once only had eyes of her – only tried to understand her. But in the end, she grew so dependent on the stoic that she felt like she was a burden – she felt like she needed to get stronger. While Minami was glad that the red head had branched out in an attempt to break her image of a weak girl that needed protecting, she couldn't help but feel even more protective over her.

"Sometimes she even messes with us." Hiyori chuckled "This is a whole another side of her I've never seen before"

Minami smiled and closed her eyes solemnly "There's a lot more to her than being shy and cute"

"I'll say."

**LUCKY STAR**

Patricia wanted to do the opening presentation for the festival – namely a cheer leading routine. Her only problem was finding a cheer dance and getting people to dance the said cheer with her.

She had videos for several routines and she had watched all of them but was particularly drawn to the cheer that was dancing to the song _Motteke! Sailor Fuku_.

As Patricia studied the video for the umpteenth time, she had finally made her decision.

 _This is the one we'll use… the only problem is "we". Who will dance with me…?_ Several names popped into her mind immediately, like Hiyori, Konata, Yutaka, and Minami. _We're gonna need more. Maybe Konata can convince some of her own friends to join…_ Patricia flipped her phone closed. _I'll think about that later. They're probably busy right now._

**LUCKY STAR**

The time has come for the students to return home. Most students are doing that but one particular first year – a first year member of the animation research club – remained at the school. She was Hiyori Tamura.

"Ko-senpai!" The raven haired girl said as she entered the room "I'm sorry I'm late"

"Oh, Tamura. Just the girl I've been looking for."

Ko Yasaka was a second year student and the president of the animation research club. A blond tomboy who enjoys anime. Speaking of anime, Ko had tasked the club members to create a short little animation for the festival.

"You know those key frames you sent us? We've finished with the tweens." She said as she brought out a laptop. "Look here"

Tapping the touch pad, she began shifting through some files. She brought up several images of unfinished animation frames. Most of them were rough sketches of two girls shooting at each other.

"Wow. You guys work fast." Hiyori said in amazement. She began looking through the frames but suddenly frowned. The transition between one pose to the next was smooth and flowed well... but they weren't the poses she remembered drawing – they had a lot more movement than these ones "These... these aren't the same ones I made..."

"Oh? Yeah, about that." Ko said, scratching her head. "These particular set was incomplete. I'm guessing you didn't check to see if all the files you gave me were complete?" She asked in a teasing tone

The raven haired girl's heart sank in guilt "I-I'm sorry."

"Eh, don't worry about it. We managed" The blond reassured her "Worry about your girlfriend. Looks like she's waiting for you"

"what?" Hiyori turned to see Patricia by the door with an eager look on her face **.** "Oh..."

"'Oh'?" Ko chuckled "I wouldn't want to come between you two. You're free to go for today." After moving some files, she handed Hiyori a flash drive. "Finish us those frames. We should be able to start coloring tomorrow." With a grin and salute, Ko walked out the room. As she passed Patricia, she winked, to which the American winked back in response.

"So, Hiyori. How've you been?" She asked as she slowly entered the room and closed the door. Her eyes looked at the glasses-girl intensely, a smirk forming on her lips "You busy?"

This was not an unfamiliar situation for Hiyori. Patricia had, on several occasions, gotten her alone in a room to do... lewd stuff... and this was one her favorite openers. It's not to say that Hiyori didn't enjoy the said activities she did with the blond – she took quite a bit pleasure in it – but something about Patricia's appetite for sex always made Hiyori nervous. Now was not an exception.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." She said shakily "I'm free I guess"

"Good" Patricia grinned as she walked up to the glasses-girl and grabbed her arm. "Cuz' you are coming with me" She stormed out the room with a confused Hiyori in tow.

"Wait, where are we going!?" the raven haired girl asked as she was dragged about

**LUCKY STAR**

"So how's your class doing?" Yutaka was asked by her blue-haired cousin. "Have my lessons been helping?"

"Yeah. They think I'm a natural"

Minami and Yutaka were cleaning the classroom and Konata had decided to pay them a little visit before she went home. She was a bit surprised that it was just the two of them in the room – apparently the others in charge of cleaning for that day had finished before the two of them.

"Lessons?" Minami asked, tilting her head.

The idea of lessons intrigued Minami. What was Konata teaching Yutaka? And whatever it was, why?

Those questions were soon to be answered as Konata perked up. "Yeah, I gave her acting lessons. Watch this" She winked at Yutaka, to which the red head responded with a smile and nod.

It would be difficult to describe Minami's feelings towards what she was about to witness

"Izumi, get over here!" Yutaka suddenly ordered, face morphing into a sneer.

Konata jumped in surprise. With panicked haste, she knelt in front of the shorter girl. "Y-yes mistress?"

Yutaka raised her nose, looking down on Konata with eyes that could cause frost bite with its coldness "I assume your job has been done?" She asked as she crossed her arms

The blunette grew wide-eyed and slowly shook her head. "N-no ma'am. I'm still working on it" She seemed to shrink, as if she was about the get hit and was bracing herself for the blow.

"Pathetic." Yutaka scowled. She bent over and grabbed Konata's hair, pulling her up to eye level. "I ordered you to be finished the moment I called you. What excuse will you give me for this failure?" She asked, maintaining un blinking eye contact.

Konata began crying "M-mistress. I'm almost done. If you can give me more time, I'm sure-"

"Silence" Yutaka placed a finger on the older girl's lips, cutting her off. With a sigh, the red head let go of Konata's hair. "Fine. I'll show you mercy. Finish your work"

Trembling, Konata bowed "Th-thank you mistress" She was about to turn away but Yutaka's voice called her back.

"Wait..." The shorter girl said. "... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to mess up your hair..." She said. Her face was still in a scowl but her eyes shied away from looking at Konata.

Konata smiled fondly and took Yutaka's hand, kneeling. "It's fine, my lady. I know you intended not harm" She looked up and suddenly grinned, causing the red head to giggle.

The two girls turned to Minami and bowed "Thank you, thank you" Konata said.

"That was..." Minami was speechless. She knew there was more to Yutaka than being a cute but fragile girl, but that was just too much for her to accept all at once. Sure, they were just pretending – that much was apparent to her – but seeing that Yutaka was capable of acting so out of character was too surreal for her to form a coherent opinion. "I... just... what?"

"Utterly stupefied by our performance, I see" Konata said smugly.

"It was just improv-acting, Minami." Yutaka said, signs of worry showing on the edges of her face. "Konata said said it was a good way to make my fortune telling believable if I learned it so she taught it to me."

Minami quickly recovered and returned to her usual poker face. "I... I think you were amazing. Even your facial expressions and body language matched the scene. It's like you were a completely different person..."

It wasn't clear whether it was Minami's voice portraying more emotion than she thought or if it was Yutaka's natural ability to read people, but for whatever reason, Minami's comment on their skit had caused the red-head to grow very distressed.

"But... It's still me." Yutaka said.

"I know. But seeing you do that... It scares me..." Minami said through grit teeth.

She really was afraid – afraid that the love of her life turned out to be someone else. She knew it was a baseless fear. She knew it was illogical to think that the Yutaka she fell in love with and the Yutaka she saw now were different. She knew, yet she still felt terrified of the what-if scenarios that began to plague her mind.

 _Get a grip on yourself._ Minami screamed inside her head. _These are possibilities, not concrete facts. The only sure thing now is that you love Yutaka. Trust her._ "I'm sorry Yutaka. I'm just having trouble taking all of this in"

"I feel like you've been struggling for a while now on something that's not related me acting." The red-head told her. "Is something the matter?"

"No. I'm fi-"

"You're lying!" Yutaka said, not quite that loudly but enough to pierce the relative silence in the room. She hung her head, voice growing faint. "You're lying... whether you know it or not... there's something bothering you." She looked up at Minami, teary-eye. "Tell me what's wrong"

Konata slowly backed up. She had not expected her little skit with Yutaka to expose an issue between her and Minami that needed addressing.

"I may or may not have started something problematic." Konata said nervously as she inched towards the exit. "I think it would be a good idea for you two to talk about it" She opened the door and walked out. "I'll just leave you two alone to work things out..." She said quietly.

With that, the bluenette left them. She felt somewhat guilty for doing that but she needed to give them some space to fix whatever problem she had brought light to.

**LUCKY STAR**

Patricia had brought Hiyori up to speed as she dragged her through the hallways. _The opening ceremony... Oh god, I can't bear the thought of dancing in front of all those people._

The opening ceremony for the school festival normally involved some sort of performance by a club or a couple of students. Patricia's idea of a cheer leading routine would work perfectly for it... if it wasn't for the fact that she needed more people to dance. Thus the inclusion of Hiyori.

 _She's gonna find some way to get more of us to dance, I just know she is._ Hiyori's thoughts were turned to different things when she felt the person dragging her stop abruptly.

"Oh, Kona-chan. Just the girl I've been looking for" Patricia with excitement. However, said excitement seemed to drain out of her when she saw Konata's face. "Is this a bad time?"

The blue-haired otaku's face was actually fine – she still the same youthful smile. Her eyes, however, told a different story. Within those deep emerald orbs half covered by eyelids was a sea of emotion that remained deceivingly calm. What was under the surface? Something was brewing inside the girl, that much Patricia could tell.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just tired..." Konata assured her. After thinking for a bit, she took it back, frowning. "Actually, I sort of inadvertently started something between Yutaka and Minami – I guess I'm NOT fine after all..."

Hiyori and Patricia look at each other. The perfect couple having problems? That was surprising, to say the least.

"I actually have a favor to ask you..." Patricia said, hoping Konata was still open to them

"Well..." The bluenette's lips formed into her all too familiar cat smile. "I'm listening..."

Hiyori spoke up. "We – well, Patty, really – is trying to get a dance troop together for a cheer leading routine during the opening ceremony. Would you be part of it?"

"And, if possible, could you convince your friends to join as well?" Patty added

Konata seemed to ponder the request. "Patricia..."

 _Uh oh..._ Hiyori though. _She's almost never uses Patty's full name. This might be a disappointing answer..._

"Look. This is something I'd absolutely love to do..." Konata started "... But I can't. As good as I am at multi-tasking, there's just too many things taking up my time right now."

Hiyori glanced at her girlfriend. She wasn't all that angry at Konata's refusal as she was worried – or at least it looked that way.

"Oh... Could have sworn you'd say yes anyway..." The blond was lost in thought "Could you at least try to get Kagami and Tsukasa to join me?"

"I'll try but no promises." The bluenette answered "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'm gonna go home now."

The two parted to let the shorter girl pass. As they watched her skip across the room, they felt the dissonance between what they saw of their senpai, and what they sensed inside her. _Konata must really be good at holding in whatever's bothering her..._

As the two were left alone in the hall, a certain silence seemed to creep up and overshadow them. "So..." Patricia said, piercing the quiet veil. "Looks like we're done for today..." She sighed and started walking away.

 _Wait she's leaving too? Already?_ Hiyori brought her hand up to reach out to her but hesitated. "Patty..." She whispered. She wanted to go after her. _Why? Why would I go after her? Am I really that deprived of pleasure? Am I really going to straight up ask her to have sex with me?_ The raven haired girl sighed. _What's a day? Twenty four hours. Two twelve hours. Four six hours. Eight three hours. I can probably spend that long with out her, right? S_ he sighed again. _I sure hope so..._

And so, Hiyori returned to the Animation research club room to get her bag back.

**LUCKY STAR**

In the corner of classroom 1-D sat Minami and Yutaka, both of them in a fetal position, backs against the wall. They seemed to be resolving whatever issue they were apparently having.

"Konata was teaching her classmates improv for their play. She thought it would be a good idea if I learned how to act as well..." Yutaka explained. "I ended up being better at it than I expected to be..." She looked at the mint-haired girl beside her and smiled apologetically. "I only recently learned how to do this. I wasn't acting when I told you I loved you and I'm not acting now. I still love you, Minami" She returned her gaze to the floor in front of her, curling into an even tighter ball. "Your turn..."

It took some time for Minami to find her voice, but when she did, the words escaped her mouth in a slow and steady stream. "Last Tuesday, you guys went over to the Takara estate for the afternoon. When you guys left, Miyuki's mother confronted me." Minami heard a small gasp. She glanced to her side and, sure enough, Yutaka was looking at her with worried eyes. "She wasn't the same as she normally was. In place of usual passive-aggressive coldness, she seemed... sad... and scared..." She took another look at the red-head beside her. She sensed a bit of curiosity in the girl. The mint-haired girl continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In animation, the picture on screen changes several times a second to make it look like something is moving. These are called frames. Key frames are basically the pictures that show big movements – like the start of a sword swing and the end of a swing – while tweens are the frames in-between the key frames – the pictures that show the sword mid-swing
> 
> So... seems like I ended this chapter with a bit of a cliffhanger. Sorry about that.


	6. Hopefully it isn't a downer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Previously, the story ended with an intervention (or at least the beginnings of one) and Minami recounting a tale of three nights ago. Let's start her story now, shall we? Hopefully it isn't a downer.

**LUCKY STAR**

_It was a Tuesday night and Minami was wandering the Takara estate. She was walking in the hall that lead from the kitchen to Miyuki's room while lost in thought when she suddenly bumped into Yukari._

" _Good evening, Yukari-san"_

" _Oh... Minami... Good evening..." Yukari said coldly. Oddly enough, the woman's rather passive-aggressive response was a lot warmer than it normally was. Minami wondered if she was starting to accept her. "So... I take it your relationship with the Kobayakawa girl is going well?" The pinkette asked_

 _Minami nodded. "We... we're doing okay, I guess..." She said awkwardly._ This is strange. I can tell she's still uncomfortable with being near me but I don't feel the dislike she normally radiates when I'm near... interesting... _"So..."_

" _So..." Yukari repeated. "... How long have you been dating...?"_

Well that was a question from out of the blue... What's going on here...? _Despite her confusion, the mint haired-girl still replied curtly. "A little under two months"_ What does she want to know?

" _Minami, I'm sorry for making it so hard you. For the past several weeks, I've been very mean to you and your... ah... friends... I apologize for that..." Yukari hung her head, looking legitimately regretful._

" _It's fine" Minami said automatically. The stoic girl winced inside. Sure, she was going to say that anyway, but she liked to think she had self control and that particular reflex did not help with keeping that image of herself._

" _That's somewhat of a relief. I expected that you hated me." Yukari said, relaxing a bit._

" _Don't worry, Yukari-san. It's okay." Personally, Minami didn't feel her reason justified her... unpleasant actions, but she saw no reason to hold a grudge. Besides, justified or not, at least she's saying sorry. "We disliked the way you acted towards us, but we knew you had a reason."_

" _A reason... yes..." The pinkette gave another sigh. "To be honest, I still feel very uncomfortable with your relationship. Whenever I see you and Yutaka-chan, a certain pain shoots through my heart. I really wish it didn't..."_

" _You can't help what you feel, Yukari-san." Minami said in an attempt to reassure her._

" _It's just... You look so much like your mother." The mint haired girl blinked. It was true. She couldn't deny it. But what did it have to do with anything? "You know that Honoka and I had dated at one point, right?" After the younger girl nodded, Yukari continued. "It was in high school. I was a senior and she was a freshman. No one even knew we were together. We actually started in the Christmas before school started... but that's for another story..."_

_The two decided to sit down on the nearby couch._

" _Our time together, while happy, was never the most stable of relationships. We fought a lot over the most insignificant things, usually breaking up shortly after. Somehow we always managed to get back together"_

_Minami was surprised to say the least. She couldn't really imagine her mother and Yukari fighting. Then again, she never expected that the woman in front of her could act so cold, nor did she expect the very same woman to apologize. The mint haired girl shelved her thoughts for later examination and let the older woman continue_

" _Then one day, we had a particularly unpleasant argument. We both ended up saying things we later regretted. It was the worst break up I had with her... and the last." Yukari's eyes were glistening. She looked like she was just about ready to cry but no tears fell. "I expected to make up after a few days but we never did. It wasn't until after I graduated did I learn that she actually took another girlfriend."_

_Minami almost didn't want to know but still she asked "... who was she?"_

_Yukari grit her teeth and forced herself to continue. "Her name was Yuki Izumi... She looked just like the girl you were dating..."_

_Minami was astonished._ Wasn't Yutaka's mother named Yuki? _Again, she set aside the questions for later._

" _Your mother and I were close and we had a lot in common. The only problem was that we didn't love each other – or at least I thought I didn't. I was wrong. So very wrong..." She closed her eyes, preventing the stream of tears from flowing. "It wasn't until I found out we weren't getting back together that I finally realized that I did in fact love Honoka." She began to sob quietly._

_Minami wasn't sure how to react so she just sat there awkwardly next to the crying woman. "Uh... there there..." She patted the pinkette's shoulder in an attempt to cheer her up._

_After a few minutes, Yukari stopped the flow of tears. "I... I'm sorry. I-I'm okay now..." After a deep breath, she regained her composure, although her eyes were still red._

" _The girl, Yuki. She was a first year. Turns out, she had a crush on Honoka and confessed to her a few days after our fight. She didn't know about us and I don't think Honoka ever told her..."_

" _I... I don't know what to say." Minami said helplessly. There was so much she WANTED to say but she couldn't find the right words. As always, speech felt like a barrier she always had to break through but just COULDN'T._

" _You don't have to say anything. It's a lot to take in" Yukari was in a melancholic state. She sat limply on the cushioned bench – had she not been leaning on the wall, she would have fallen off her seat. "I don't know why your mother ended up staying with the other girl. Maybe it's because she and I argue too much. Maybe she got sick of me. Maybe she wanted a girlfriend her own age. Maybe just felt more loved with the other girl..." She continued on like this._

_Minami could usually tell when someone was going down a downward spiral and this was likely to be the case. "What's done is done. You can't change the past" The mint hared girl said, snapping the woman out of her daze._

" _Oh... I'm sorry. I think I blanked out there" As Yukari's eyes refocused, she seemed to scowl. "It's my understanding that your case it the complete opposite of ours...?"_

_The younger girl blinked. Why the sudden topic change? "... what do you mean?"_

" _From what Honoka tells me, you two are the perfect couple. You never get into fights. Never experience any jealousy. It's almost weird how well your relationship is going. I don't think AYNTHING can pull you two apart"_

" _Uh..." As crazy as it felt, what Yukari was saying seemed to make Minami self conscious._

_She was correct, though. Fights between the two were all but non existent and the jealousy they felt was more of the incentive-to-improve kind rather than outraged-and-spiteful kind. Over all, their relationship was probably the smoothest one Minami's ever seen or heard of. The only thing that could come between them would be Yutaka's frailness – if she got sick or injured, there was nothing the mint haired girl could do besides care for the girl and hope that her body could fix itself._

_Minami blinked._ There IS something I can do. I can prevent her from getting sick or injured. It's what I've always been doing. I will protect her!

**LUCKY STAR**

"I guess after that, I became a bit overprotective of you..." Minami said, her voice thick with guilt. She closed her eyes solemnly. "After all those times I told people there was more to you than being weak and shy – that you were stronger then people assume. It's almost as if I didn't really believe it myself..."

As the mint haired girl curled up into an even tighter ball, Yutaka couldn't help but feel that there was more to this than her confrontation with Yukari.

She had been moody all week, going from happy, to sad, then to angry in only a span of a few minutes. Granted, the stoic had kept those emotions under a nigh perfect mask, but it doesn't change the fact that it happened. That said, there had to be something else – something more – to explain her behavior. A talk with her surrogate aunt wouldn't be enough to make her act the way she did but it would be the perfect catalyst for a chain reaction involving whatever had been eating at her.

"Minami... That's not all of it..." Yutaka said, trembling. She seemed to holding back tears "I can feel it... There's more... what else is wrong...?" She looked at the girl next to her and pleaded for an answer

Minami hung her head and tightened her hug on her knees. She struggled to think of the words to describe what else was hurting her but nothing came to mind. She couldn't explain it.

"I don't know." She said with a look for pain and confusion on her face. "I don't know..." She turned to the red head and whispered. "I'm scared, Yutaka. I've been scared for a while and I _don't know_ why. WHY?"

Despite the softness of her voice, Yutaka heard every agonizing word. "We stand together." She said, quoting Minami "You're not alone. I'm here. We'll get through this"

Minami breathed in a shaky deep breath in an attempt to calm down. "Thank you..." She said, still trembling but relaxing ever so slightly.

The red head pulled the mint-haired girl closer. She was still confused as to what was bothering her girlfriend, but she took comfort that she was able to help, even just a little. She just wished Minami wouldn't keep all her feelings bottled up. Whatever emotions her encounter with Yukari had released, Yutaka doubted that was all of them...

**LUCKY STAR**

It was a slow day at the cosplay cafe where Konata and Patricia worked at. That said, the employee's were just lazing around – still in costume, mind you.

Konata was clad in a green schoolgirl uniform with a long black coat draped over her shoulders. A pendant hung from a small chain around her neck and a collapsible replica katana was hidden inside her coat. Finally, a red wig completed the outfit.

Patricia, on the other hand, was wearing a purple business suit, with a skirt reaching just under her knees. On her face were fake glasses and hanging from her shoulder was a book large enough to stand on and still have space.

"Are you sure you're good for today? I thought you said you were tired." Patricia asked the shorter girl

"Eh, yeah I am. But this is something I have to do. Gotta save up, you know?" Konata said

"Save up for what? You didn't even go to Comiket last summer so you must have saved up a lot of money. What's so expensive that you need so much?"

"Hmm... of the top of my head, I'd say electric bills are expensive." Konata replied casually. "And phone bills; water bills; cable bills; lot and lots of bills"

Patricia cringed "Yikes. You must have it rough. Couldn't you just cut down on stuff you don't need? I'm sure that subscription to your MMO could go."

Konata looked at the blond with an intense glare – made even more intense by the red contact lenses she was wearing. "Perhaps you should mind your own business?" She asked it politely with a kind smile but the underlying venom in her voice said otherwise.

The taller girl seemed to take offense "Wow, okay. I was only suggesting. No need to lose your temper." She sighed. "You know, I kinda feel bad about how you're doing now..."

"Eh, thanks for the sympathy, I guess?" Konata said, scratching her head. "It's nice to know you care, at least"

A girl called out to the two of them. She was wearing a green wig, a shrine priestess outfit, and carried a large staff with various rings on its head that clinked every time it moved. "Guys, a customer is coming. Get into character" She yelled in a monotone voice.

Konata cleared her throat and practiced her tsundere voice for a few lines. Patricia, likewise, practiced her condescending woman voice.

And so began work for that day.

**LUCKY STAR**

Tsukasa and Kagami walked quietly back to their house from the grocery store. It was a peaceful night and the two were taking their time to appreciate such a rare occurrence so early in the evening.

Kagami was the first one to break the silence. "Did we remember everything they asked us to buy for groceries?"

"Ah... I... don't know. I think so?" Tsukasa replied as she shifted through the contents of the plastic bag she was carrying.

"Say... Tsukasa..." The twin tailed girl began. "You know how your class is doing a play and all? What's your role in it?" She asked, legitimately curious.

"Hmm? I'm the lead role."

"Oh you're the lea- What!? W-w-wait... wait... just wait... WHAT?" Kagami was stammering. "What?"

The younger twin shrunk from her sister's display of disbelief. "Is that something wrong...?"

After herself calming down, the tsundere scratched her head, feeling more than a little guilty for making her sister feel bad. "Eh, no nothing's wrong with it. I guess I was just really surprised. I mean... REALLY surprised..."

"I was surprised too." Tsukasa agreed and then added enthusiastically "And Konata said I'm really good at acting."

"Really?" Kagami blinked. She was skeptical about whether Konata's compliment on Tsukasa's acting skills had merit but she was willing to suspend her disbelief for her sister's sake. "Okay. I was going to watch your play anyway, but now you've got me interested. Who are you playing?"

"I play the queen of a country. She sort of gets drunk on power after her knights win against an enemy kingdom that kidnapped their princess. She tries to take over the world but is very bad at it."

"Sounds more like a role that would suit Konata." The older twin commented

"She wrote the script. Most of the class actually wanted HER to play the lead. She refused."

"Oh? That's surprising. She normally loves the spot light..." Kagami then realized something "Come to think of it, unlike her, you _hate_ being in the spot light. What made you agree with taking the lead role?"

"Ah... well..." Tsukasa thought for a bit.

She flashed back to last Wednesday, when the entire class voted her to become one of the main characters. Their face of expectation was enough to shoot down every attempt at declining from the role. She was about to cry when Konata walked by and whispered "I know you can do it. You'd make an awesome lead." Suffice it to say, that was enough for Tsukasa to accept the role

"I guess you could say Konata convinced me?"

Kagami sighed. "I swear. That girl is so persuasive she could con the devil into going to church."

The two arrived home shortly after that statement. As Kagami used her keys to unlock the door, Tsukasa afforded herself a small smile.

S _ure, it didn't take much to convince me, but if I didn't let myself be convinced, I would never have known I was good at something else besides cooking. I have Konata to thank for that._

The two entered the house and was greeted by their mother.

**LUCKY STAR**

It was already fairly late but Minami and Yutaka had yet to leave their classroom. The two were still sitting in the corner, albeit in the middle of a particularly passionate kiss.

"Yutaka..." Minami breathed as she pulled away, cheeks flushed.

"Ah... Mi... na... mi..." Yutaka panted, looking longingly at her girlfriend's tantalizing blue eyes.

They almost immediately locked lips once more.

One would normally wonder how they went from simultaneously breaking down in tears to having a hot make out session. The two were that of same boat as they too had no idea how they ended up doing what they were doing. Although, considering the last thing they remembered was a tight hug and a peck on the lips while they were both sobbing quietly before it became of blur of sensations, it could be inferred that it just snow balled from there.

As the two separated again, it seemed that Yutaka had become exhausted. She fell forward and leaned limply into Minami's chest. The mint haired girl was, likewise, quite tired and rested her back to the wall, enjoying the warmth of the redhead cuddling her.

"Yutaka... do you want to eat out?" Minami asked

Yutaka looked at her with sleepy eyes and answered. "Sure... What do you... have in mind?"

"I know this nice quiet diner near the station. They have pretty good noodles." To which Yutaka responded with a nod

Minami helped the tired girl up and they both left the classroom.

**LUCKY STAR**

[LUCKY CHANNEL!]

[Hiya, luckies! My name is Akira Kogami, and I will be your navigator for today]

[And I'm Minoru Shiraishi, the assistant. It's finally the start of the weekend.]

[You know, I've been wondering. You've been awfully cheerful this past week. _It's been getting on my nerves. What gives?_ ]

[Ah. Well, my school's festival starts next week. I guess you can say I'm excited]

[ _Really now. Tell me, what's your class going to do?_ ]

[We're doing a play. I'm actually the lead actor]

[ _You? Lead actor? How bad IS that class that they had to resort to you?_ ]

[I happen to be a fairly competent actor.]

[ _Ha, I'll believe you when I see it._ ]

[You don't have to see it. You don't deserve such an honor!]

[Hey, what's with that tone? _How dare you act condescending to me!? Show some respect!_ ]

[How dare I? This is retribution, whelp! This is similar to how you act towards me! And you expect me to give you respect? Don't make me laugh!]

[…]

[Oh, what the heck. I'll laugh anyway!]

[Minoru, stop, you're scaring me... I get it, you're a good actor.]

[… Eh... Sorry... and thanks...]

[…]

[…]

[Well that was awkward... _No thanks to you..._ ]

[Hey! How else was I supposed to show-]

[This next song is "Oath Sign" by LiSA. Enjoy!]

[Hey, don't just cut me off like that-]

[ _Shut up, the song's start-_ ]

\- voice cut -

**LUCKY STAR**

The Hiiragi family – Miki, Inori, Matsuri, Kagami, and Tsukasa – sat at the table for dinner. The only family member not there to partake in the meal was Tadao due to a business trip he had to go on.

As the Hiiragi women ate their food, the oldest of them spoke up. "You know... I've been wondering. What are you two doing for the school festival this year?" Miki asked her two youngest daughters.

"We're doing a play" Tsukasa said cheerfully

"And you'll never believe this." Kagami said. "Tsukasa's the lead actress"

Immediately, the table exploded with conversation. Various words ranging from "how" and "why" to "amazing" and "impossible" were thrown around, most of them targeting Tsukasa. All vocal activity was soon brought to an abrupt halt when Miki made and ear splitting whistle.

The indigo-haired woman removed her fingers from her mouth and cleared her throat. "Ahem. Tsukasa, you were saying?"

The youngest sister continued. "We're doing a play about a queen who tries to take over the world but can't win. Its a comedy"

"And the main character is nothing like her." Kagami said with a chuckle. "To be honest, I can't wait to see her play, if only to see Tsukasa play someone completely different."

"I'd love to see it too" Miki agreed. "What about you, Kagami? What's you're class doing?"

The tsundere almost immediately blushed. "Ah well... we..." She was clearly reluctant to tell them so Tsukasa decided to help

"They're doing a swimsuit cafe" The younger twin said.

Again, the three older sisters began speaking all at once only to be silenced by another shrill whistle by the Hiiragi matriarch. "That's a rather... bold choice." She commented.

"Well, it wasn't mine. It was the first thing that was suggested and no one had any better ideas." Kagami said with a sigh. "... Not that it doesn't come with its perks..." She added under her breath

"I bet you're looking forward to seeing Kusakabe in a swimsuit." Matsuri teased. When the tsundere blushed, she released the laugh she was holding in. "I knew it! Oh kagami, you freakin' perv!"

"S-shut up! It's not like that!" Kagami retorted. Her cheeks were burning and her blood was boiling – the mental image of Misao in a swimsuit was not helping. To hide her embarrassment, she turned her head down to face the table.

Dinner continued on like that.

**LUCKY STAR**

The Izumi household was quiet that night. There was no sound of anime on TV nor any games being played on the PC. It was almost too quiet.

Granted, there was a reason. For one, Konata had to cut down on spending, which meant she had to cut down on electricity usage, which meant she had to select what type of fun to have. The television and computer couldn't be both turned on at the same time – she had to choose one or the other. That said, it meant she also had to budget her time as well.

Time management was never something the bluenette was good at, and it showed. That night, she planned to play her MMO for an hour and then log out to watch her anime. The particular raid she participated in lasted far longer than she expected and ended up taking twenty more minutes than she had planned. By the time she finally finished playing the game and went offline, her anime was already over.

So there she stayed in her room, on her bed, alone, with the entire house to herself, doing stuff. Most perverts would say she was touching herself, and most of the time they would be correct, but at that particular moment, she was doing something else. She was doing her homework

Out of sheer boredom, Konata Izumi was doing her assignments. She herself couldn't believe what she was doing. She was almost glad, and at the same time, disappointed, when the door bell rang and interrupted her.

 _Why do I feel mad that the door bell made me stop doing homework...?_ Konata shook her head. She could have an internal debate about that later. The bluenette jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs. _Speaking of the door bell, the person who rung it must be Yu-chan... Wow, she's really late._

Sure enough, when Konata opened the door, the person behind it was "... Minami... Good evening?" The mint haired girl stood in front of the otaku, towering a head or so taller. Sitting comfortably in her arms was Yutaka, sleeping soundly as the stoic held her. Seeing it made Konata smile. _Well ain't that cute._

"Good evening, Izumi-san."

"First name's fine. Evening, Minami" The bluenette said casually. "C'mon. Let's get her to bed"

Minami nodded and entered the house. As the taller girl took off her own shoes, Konata went to work in removing Yutaka's shoes.

"Good work getting her home" The shorter girl said. "Though, I've gotta wonder, why are you two so late?" _Perhaps you've taken your relationship to the next level, hehehe_

"We had dinner at this place near the station" Minami stated

 _Oh... not what I was expecting but..._ "The one will the awesome noodles? Aw man, I'd have loved to go there today!" Konata sighed.

Upon reaching Yutaka's room, Minami gently lowered her onto the bed. With a smirk, the bluenette next to her suggested "Wanna change her into her pajamas? I'm sure that'll be fun"

The stoic's face remained impassive but she couldn't control the blood rushing to her face when she heard that. Konata could almost see the hunger in her eyes.

"Oh, never mind. Doesn't seem like you'd be able to hold back anyway" She joked, not quite realizing she had said that though aloud.

The mint haired girl grew somewhat wide eyed at the bluenette's statement. A look of guilt, albeit subtle, appeared on her face.

 _Oh boy..._ Konata grew somewhat worried. "Hey, no need to look so down. You're hers and she's yours. There's nothing wrong with wanting her."

Minami nodded mechanically. It seems that she managed to reign-in her emotions and was now practically a robot. "I'll be going home now, Izumi-san"

"Call me Konata..." With a deep breath, she continued. "Alright. C'mon, I'll walk you to the door."

As the two walked the hallway leading downstairs, they passed Sojiro's room. Konata glanced at the door and shook her head. _Ah. Now I remember why I was doing my homework..._

When they reached the door, Konata bid Minami good night.

_Well... tonight took a turn for the depressing..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of chapter marks the end of Festival of Bottled Hearts Part 1. If you want a breather, this is a good stopping point.
> 
> I had a surprising amount of difficulty finding a way to describe Miki's hair color (considering I only used it in one line). Had I not compared pics of her to the insane amounts of color name references I have, I'd have resulted in just calling her hair "dark violet". It would have been wrong, too. Her hair was actually way more blue than red, making it look closer to indigo, which was the color I used. 
> 
> I also had difficulty writing Yukari and Minami's scene. It went through several revisions and, even now, I'm not happy with it. I wanted her to be redeemable but I can't convince myself that she is in my story.
> 
> I'm also not all that sure about that last part with Konata. In my opinion, that last section was actually one of the better ones. It's just that I have a vague idea of a better way to have done it and I can't seem to put it on paper... so to speak...
> 
> *sigh* Whatever.


	7. Dramatic morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the next chapter to the festival arc set a day after the last chapter, and boy is it a dramatic morning.
> 
> This chapter marks the start of part 2 of Festival of Bottled Hearts. Enjoy if you can.

**LUCKY STAR**

"Onee-chan, it's time to wake up"

It was a fairly early Saturday morning and all but one member of the Izumi household was awake. Yutaka woke up earlier than she normally did because she apparently fell asleep a few minutes after the dinner she and Minami had part took in and needed to be carried home. Sojiro, on the other hand, had only just arrived that morning from work. That leaves us with Konata, who was, in essence, a paralyzed girl on the bed – she was awake but whatever strength she had wasn't enough to get her to move.

"Onee-chan, we have to go to school" Yutaka insisted as she shook her apparently sleeping cousin. Upon turning the girl to face her, the red head found that she had her eyes open, albeit dead and unfocused. "... are you alright?" She asked in a worried tone.

Eyes coming back into focus, Konata blinked. "I'll be up in a bit..." She said as she sluggishly rolled out of bed, landing on her face. "You can go. This might take some time..."

Yutaka pursed her lips as she watched the girl crawl on the floor, trying to get on her feet. She wanted to say something but thought better of it. Instead, she said "I hope you're okay with just sunny-side eggs. I'm not very good at cooking anything else." With that, the pig-tailed girl walked out of the room, quietly sliding the door closed.

"Hey, Yu-chan" As Yutaka entered the kitchen, she was met with a smile from her uncle. Sojiro, dressed in surprisingly good looking clothes, gave a tired smile.

The man had just come home from work – work he never told the two girls about. Yutaka often wondered why that was the case and attempted to bring up the topic of what his work exactly WAS on multiple occasions but never had the guts to follow through. _But why, though? Why doesn't he want us to know?_ Curious as she was, she never got an answer

"How's Konata doing?" He asked.

"I think she's depressed." Yutaka sighed. "It's like getting up is one of the hardest things in the world for her."

"Oh..." Sojiro looked devastated. Her daughter, depressed? How did that happen? What could he do to help? "... Do you think I can cheer her up...?"

"I hope so. We won't know unless you try."

The man took it as his cue to try his luck. He got up from the kitchen table and nervously walked to Konata's room. Yutaka could only watch as her uncle climbed the stairs leading to her cousin's room. _I hope she starts feeling better._

"DAD!" The red-head heard. It seemed a whole lot happier than her earlier tone.

_Huh. I guess she just missed seeing uncle Sojiro. She is her dad, after all... Come to think of it, I miss mom a lot too..._

Yutaka shook her head and awaited the Izumis to enter the kitchen. When they did, the shorter girl was glad to see that Konata seemed a whole lot happier.

**LUCKY STAR**

The Hiiragi household was quieter than usual. As it was the weekend, most of its occupants were sleeping in. Unfortunately, it didn't include the two youngest sisters in the family. Tsukasa and Kagami had school that day, believe it or not, so they had to be awake.

Not that they were required to go, strictly speaking. Going to school on the weekend for festival preparation was "optional". They didn't exactly have much of a choice, though, considering Kagami was the class rep and Tsukasa was the lead actress.

That said, the two of them were taking advantage of the slightly more lenient rules for tardiness and dress code due to the occasion. Namely, they were picking what to wear and taking their time.

Tsukasa stood in front of a mirror, examining herself. She wore a plaid green blouse and her blue jeans, completed with the yellow ribbon in her hair. It was a simple outfit but she felt comfortable in it. With a smile and nod, she stepped away from the mirror, satisfied with how she looked.

The younger twin then moved into the hall and knocked on her sister's door. "Sis, are you ready yet?" The door immediately opened and Tsukasa was pulled into the room.

"Tsukasa, I have a big problem." Kagami said in a somewhat panicked tone.

"What?" The Tsukasa looked back with a confused expression. She saw Kagami in a red collared-shirt and gray shorts. She didn't notice anything wrong till she saw Kagami's hair. She had a single pony tail on the left side of her head with the right side untied and hanging loose. "Did you lose one of your ribbons?"

"What am I going to do!? If I go to school looking like this, who knows what people will say. They might come to the same conclusion you did and think I lost it. Then people would stop trusting me with things. I might get a reputation for losing things. I might never get a job and be able to support myself. I'd have to live off of mom and dad for the rest of my life. I don't want that. I don't-I don't-I don't-"

Tsukasa held Kagami by the shoulders and pulled her close. "Breathe." She said calmly. After the older twin's breathing stabilized, the younger stepped back continued. "I don't think this is a big deal. I actually think you look pretty good."

"I..."

"I'm sure Misao will love your new hair style. I know Konata will." She added

The tsundere blushed a bit. "But-"

"Kagami, relax. It's just a ribbon. I lose mine all the time"

Kagami blinked. "... I don't think that's a good comparison..." She sighed. "... But I guess you're right. It's just a ribbon... I actually feel a bit silly for worrying about it."

"Don't be. It was important to you, wasn't it? Just don't let it eat at you." Tsukasa said with a smile.

"... R-right..." Kagami nodded shakily, not quite over her panic attack. "... I just lose it over the littlest things, don't I..." She chuckled dryly.

"C'mon, let's sit down for a bit." Tsukasa said, leading her sister to the bed.

**LUCKY STAR**

Unsurprisingly, Miyuki was one of the first people to arrive at Ryoo. She had awoken that morning to the sound of her alarm clock which she always forgets to set at a later time during the weekends.

 _Why is it that I can completely memorize random facts of trivia but I have trouble remembering alarm times and when I set the microwave._ Miyuki sighed. _Perhaps its compensation for all the things I excel in... Although, if that were the case, I'd say the compensation isn't enough to be balanced..._

As the pinkette's thoughts continued to wander, she entered the classroom, noticing that there were two people already occupying the room – A certain Lucky Channel duo

"Good morning, Shiraishi-san" Miyuki greeted. "Good morning Kogami-san"

"Morning Takara-san" Minoru smiled and waved

" _Do I know you?_ " Akira asked, looking at Miyuki with narrow eyes

"Uh... Kogami-san, it's me, Miyuki Takara. We met around two months ago?"

" _Sorry. Doesn't ring a bell._ " The short girl said, looking away. " _Besides, if I met an air head as busty as you, I'd probably remember, now won't I?_ "

Miyuki sweat dropped. This wasn't the first time the red head pretended not to know her. Nor was it the second. In fact, she did it every time they met, not that Miyuki was sure – she had forgotten at this point.

_It irks me a bit that Kogami-san does not like me. Why is that? Why does she not like me and why do I not like that fact?_

"So, Shiraishi-san, what occasion is it that Ms. Akira Kogami is here?" Miyuki asked

"She's in junior high right now. Next year, she's gonna become a highschool student so I figured I'd let her see our class at work." Minoru explained. "Normally they visit DURING the festival, but the process is just as important as the result"

The pinkette giggled. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were her parent. You sounded very fatherly just now." She teased, knowing fully what Akira's reaction would be.

" _Excuse me?_ " The salmon-haired girl growled. She smiled menacingly at Miyuki. " _You already know that Minoru and I aren't father and daughter. Why do you imply otherwise?_ " She said through her grit teeth.

"I thought we never met before? Wouldn't it be the normal assumption?" Miyuki said innocently, earning a glare from the shorter girl.

 _It's surprisingly satisfying to tease people. I can see why Konata finds it so appealing._ She thought, enjoying the exercise in wit.

Before Akira could retort, Minoru cut in. "You were asking for it, Ms. Akira." He scolded. The idol scowled at him before she angrily turned away from the other two.

As Akira fumed some distance away, Miyuki and Minoru shared a small laugh. "Tell the truth now, Shiraishi-san. What's the real reason you brought her to festival preparations?"

"Honestly? She wanted to see me act." Minoru said. "So I figured, since we're both free on the weekends-"

"relatively speaking" Miyuki commented

" _Since we're both free on weekends.._." Minoru repeated. "I thought why not let her join me in practice. She could watch in the sidelines"

"Huh... I guess that makes sense."

"By the way. A bit out of topic, but Satomi called me yesterday. I don't think our male class rep's gonna show up today." Minoru told her. "Something about family troubles"

"That's... unfortunate..." The pinkette didn't know what to say. While it wasn't particularly bad news, it was certainly news she didn't expect.

"I know, right?" The boy agreed. "Here's hoping stuff goes back to normal for him in time for him to see the play"

And then Akira cut in. "Minoru, does this place have a cafeteria? I'm starving." She asked, looking at the costumes draped over the chairs

"You ate breakfast, didn't you?" Minoru asked in exasperation.

"I'm still hungry"

"You had and entire loaf and seven strips of bacon! How much can you eat!?"

" _Just shut up and answer the question._ "

Miyuki watched the two argue and smiled. _Their relationship with each other is exactly the same as when they're recording. They're almost always fighting yet they're still remarkably close. It's amazing._

"Miyuki, we're gonna go to the cafeteria a bit. Wanna' come with?" Minoru offered. When Miyuki declined, he nodded. "Okay then. See you later"

So once again, Miyuki was left in the room, alone. She sighed at took a seat, waiting for the others to arrive at school.

**LUCKY STAR**

A blue minivan screeched into view of the school, filling the air with the smell of gasoline and burning rubber – a very unusual thing for a minivan to be able to do.

From inside of it, three people went out: A woman with ocean blue hair, a green collard shirt, and white pants who exited with a smile, a short girl with with hair of cobalt blue, a long sleeve shirt of black, and shorts of white doing her best not to spill her breakfast onto the pavement, and an even shorter girl with rosy red hair, wearing a pretty pink dress whose face was a few shades short of dying. Namely, Yui, Konata, and Yutaka.

Konata stumbled out of the car looking more than a little sick. "uhhhg. Now I remember why I take the train..." Konata looked at Yui in disgust. "How can you subject Yutaka to that torture every single day?"

"Hey, I have no control over myself when I'm behind the wheel!" The woman defended.

"Then that's even worse!"

"It's okay, Onee-chan. I'm used to it." Yutaka said, dissuading the bluenette from further antagonizing her sister. "Thanks for the ride, sis."

"No prob." Yui gave a salute and then returned to her car. The clutch and gear shift could be heard from the outside before it was drowned out by the revving of engines. As the minivan accelerated away from them, with a cloud of dust and smoke trailing behind it, Konata and Yutaka could only sweat drop at the woman's atrocious driving, remembering quite well that she was supposed to be a traffic cop.

"Yutaka." Someone called. Recognizing the voice, the two turned to face Minami who was standing by the school entrance. She was wearing a plain white blouse and black slacks. The mint haired girl gave a small wave.

The two walked towards her and, upon reaching their destination, Minami knelt in front of Yutaka, touching her forehead with hers to see if she had a fever. "No fever." She pressed her ear against her chest. "Breathing... normal... pulse... normal." She stood up and asked "Just motion sickness, then?" then turned to Konata. "You as well?"

Konata smiled weakly at both the scene she just witnessed and also at the question directed at her. Smiling as about as much she could do, lest she accidentally eject her undigested food from her stomach.

"She's not used to sis's driving." Yutaka said helpfully.

The stoic nodded and picked up the bluenette, intending to carry her to the nurse's office. Yutaka grabbed hold of Minami's sleeve and followed.

"Thanks for this..." Konata managed.

"It's no problem, Onee-chan" Yutaka said, with Minami nodding in agreement.

And so they walked

**LUCKY STAR**

On the train, Kagami was strangely nervous. She had decided pony tail her hair, angling it to be a little to the left.

Despite the fact that the people surrounding her were strangers whose opinions didn't matter to her, she still felt conscious about her looks. She could have sworn every face she looked at averted their gaze the moment she laid eyes upon them, convinced that they were staring at her.

It wasn't that her appearance made much of a difference. The tsundere knew quite well that her fears were baseless and illogical. Unfortunately, no matter how logically she looked at the situation, the fact of the matter was that she was terrified.

Her only comfort was Tsukasa.

The younger twin sat, lost in her own imagination, oblivious to reality. Kagami could feel her sister's ignorance of the world. It calmed her somehow.

Kagami suddenly felt someone squeez her hand

The older twin blinked. She glanced at her sister sitting next to her and realized that she snapped out of her trance. She must have been more in tune with reality than Kagami realized and felt her declining emotional state.

"Relax Kagami. You look fine." Tsukasa said with an encouraging smile.

She could only nod in response.

_When did Tsukasa get so confident? I remember back when we first started high school, she was all stressed out that we weren't classmates anymore. Fast forward to now, it's me who's the nervous wreck – and all because of a stupid ribbon..._

When the train reached their stop, the two got off, with Tsukasa pushing Kagami by the shoulders. This action continued as they walked from the station to school.

_Our roles have been reversed. She's doing exactly what I used to do when she falls asleep on the train... She's also the one who's waking me up for school..._

Kagami stopped walking, earning a worried look from Tsukasa when there was suddenly resistance to her pushing.

_She can wake up on her own now. She can cook her own food. She's even doing her homework without my help... She doesn't need me anymore. She's moved past me. Everyone's moving past me..._

"Onee-chan, what's wrong?"

_Tsukasa's worrying about how to keep Konata fed... Konata's dealing with financial troubles... Me? I'm having panic attacks over my freaking hair style. Pathetic..._

Kagami was just about the break down in tears when a particular girl in a blue track suit who jogged past the two Hiiragis before realizing who the two lavender-haired girls were and back pedaled.

"Morning Imouto. Heya, Kagami." The girl was Misao Kusakabe, who grinned at the two.

"I know it's okay to be selfish, but to what end? How selfish too selfish?" Kagami muttered, not looking up to face Misao. "I don't want to be left alone..."

"Oh no..." The brunette looked at Kagami with alarm. Likewise, Tsukasa stared at her sister, visibly worried. They moved the tsundere to a nearby alleyway to keep from any unwanted listeners. The said girl continued her murmuring as the two were getting her out of sight.

"Hey, Imouto, what's the matter with Kagami? How did it get this bad?" Misao whispered

"She almost had an attack a few hours ago when she lost her ribbon." Tsukasa replied. "I tried to stop it but I guess I only slowed it down."

"I guess that's why she changed her hair style. Still though, an attack because of her ribbon?"

"I think worries have been piling up and she's been ignoring them. It probably made this attack worse than what it would have been normally."

Once they were secluded, Tsukasa hugged Kagami tightly. "Tell me whats wrong..." She whispered in a calm soothing voice. "Please..."

"I've been left behind..." Tears began flowing out of the pony tailed girl's eyes. "I'm alone..."

"I'm still here. Everyone's still here. We haven't left you."

"... you don't need me..." She began trembling.

Tsukasa hugged even tighter. "Of course we need you..."

"No you don't!"

"Yes we do!"

When Kagami didn't respond, Tsukasa sighed. She let go of her sister and turned to Misao, whispering. "I know what the problem is but I don't think she'll listen to me. Please help"

"What do you have in mind?"

After a few seconds of conversation, Misao approached Kagami who was sobbing quietly, oblivious of her surroundings.

"Kagami, why do you think we don't need you?" She asked. Kagami only shook her head slowly. "More to the point, why does it matter?" The tsundere covered her eyes with her hands, shaking her head with more vigor. "I don't need you, but I sure as hell WANT you. We've been over this! I WANT YOU, KAGAMI!" Misao shouted, pulling off the hands covering the crying girl's face. As tears trickled down her girlfriend's cheeks, the brunette pulled her into a hug, pressing her face against hers. "I want you in my life. Tsukasa wants you in her life. Everyone does. You're not alone."

Kagami didn't respond. How could she? Her energy for the entire day had been drained by her anxieties. Granted, she no longer felt the said anxieties as she felt earlier, but even so, energy lost is still lost. She did, however, manage a weak smile, which was enough for Tsukasa and Misao who sighed in relief.

After a few minutes of peaceful silence, Kagami finally spoke up "Thank you..." She said under her breath. "Now I wish I wasn't so tired..."

"You're tired?" Misao asked in confusion. "But it's so early in the morning."

The pony-tailed girl pinched the bridge of her nose. "No, Misao. Not that kind of 'tired'. I'm emotionally exhausted today..."

"But we can't have that. You're the class rep. You HAVE to be present today."

"I know." She said in exasperation. "I'm still going to school. I just wish I wasn't so drained."

"Actually, I think I can solve that problem." Tsukasa said helpfully "I mean, I think Misao can"

"Well you're full of answers today aren't you?" Kagami deadpanned. _Not that I mind..._ "Okay, lay it on me"

"Make out." This immediately earned a flick to the forehead by her sister.

"Damn it, Tsukasa. You're becoming as perverted as Konata..."

"No, that's not what I meant." The younger twin said, rubbing her forehead. "When me and Konata make out, I always feel so full of energy afterward... though normally my body gets really tired at that point so I fall asleep..."

Kagami covered her face and held up her palm towards her twin. "W-w-wait. You mean to tell me that you two have made out more than once...?"

"Uh... yes?"

"... right..." _My sister has been making out with my best friend... and it's safe to assume they kissed more than Misao and I have, though considering we've only kissed twice, I don't think that's difficult to achieve... Kissing Misao, though... making out with her..._ The tsundere looked at her girlfriend tiredly. She looked back with a hungry and eager expression. She was so ready for it. "You know what? Fine. Maybe this'll work."

**LUCKY STAR**

Konata, having just recovered from her earlier motion sickness, was walking the school, with classroom 3-B being her destination.

Just as she reached the last step of the stairs leading to the third years' hallway, she heard a familiar voice call out to her. "Oi, midget! Wait up!" Already knowing who it was, Konata turned to face the person who called her. "Yo, what's up?'

The person in question was Misao, accompanied by Konata's beloved Tsukasa and her sister, a surprisingly blissful looking Kagami.

 _Speaking of Kagami._ "Good morning guys. As for what's up, can we talk about Kagami's new hair style?" Konata looked at the tsundere's head and smirked. "Side pony tail. Good choice. Works WAY better than the regular pony tail." She said, snikering.

Kagami became flustered upon noticing the bluenette's gaze. "H-hey. Stop looking at me with those pervy eyes..."

"Aw, Kagamin is acting all tsundere again"

"S-shut up, I'm not a tsundere!" The tsundere shouted

"C'mon, Kagamin. Just accept the compliment. The new look suits you. Seriously" The otaku insisted. "Oh, and off topic a bit but why'd you look so stupidly happy earlier?"

The bluenette's query did a few things. First, it flustered Misao. Second, it caused Kagami's blush to turn a few shades darker. Third, it seemed to perk Tsukasa up as she suddenly approached Konata pushed her to the wall.

With unusual bluntness, the younger twin looked Konata in the eye and said. "They had a hot make out session in front of me and I really wanna do that too." And then they kissed

The kiss was deep and long and when they finally broke away from each other, both were out of breath.

"Whoa... Not that I don't like it whenever you lead... but you do know that was public... right...?"

Tsukasa blinked. She realized that the few students who were in the hall at the time had seen everything. Tsukasa stood, frozen in place for a few seconds before recovering. She smiled kindly at the people in the hall, tilting her head. "You saw nothing" She said menacingly.

With that simple action, all of them quickly dispersed, moving to their own respective classrooms.

Tsukasa's shoulders relaxed as she gave a sigh of relief.

"Beautiful save. I've taught you well" Konata cheered, clapping slowly

Kagami and Misao just stood there, dumbfounded by what they just witnessed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it me or did this chapter just devolve into some incoherent mess? I absolutely hate how those last two sections went but as much as I want to redo it, I can't, for the life of me, write for those scenes anymore. It's like my brain shuts down whenever I try.
> 
> Actually, I DID redo some parts of those section. They were at the start of each. That's it.
> 
> Uhhhg. I just feel so frustrated at the quality. Granted, it's not much worse than the rest of this shit but it angers me to no end! And it had to be one of the more dramatic part too!
> 
> Whatever. Rant aside, hope you enjoyed that chapter


	8. Uneventful morning

**LUCKY STAR**

We're at school on a Saturday. Yay?

Years ago, that would have been a normal occurrence, as students in those days were required to go to school for a torturous six days, before is was reduced to the slightly better but not near low enough number of five. That said, if it weren't for the occasion, our being here is quite unusual.

What IS the occasion you ask? Why, it's the school festival, of course.

"Konata, we ignore you for a few minutes and suddenly your narrating your life." Kagami deadpanned.

"As I sat lost in thought, I was suddenly pulled out of my musings by a certain girl with purple hair" Konata smiled and turned to the tsundere.

"It always has to be something weird with you, doesn't it?" She asked, massaging her temples. "Couldn't you have just stared sentimentally out the window"

"Oh, but Kagami, I WAS staring sentimentally out the window"

Kagami could only sigh in response. "I know I shouldn't be praising you but your style of narration's gotten better. Great work on that I guess."

The bluenette stood and bowed. "Thank you, I try"

It was rather early that morning and most of their classmates had not arrived yet. Having literally nothing better to do until the rest of them DID arrive, the group, consisting of Kagami, Konata, Misao, Miyuki, and Tsukasa, had decided to ease their boredom by hanging out in room 3-B.

As the tsundere and otaku continued their back and forth, Tsukasa and Misao sat back, enjoying the show. The two looked at them, noticing how completely oblivious to the rest of the world they were. The normalcy of it was calming

"It kinda makes me jealous." Misao said with a small chuckle. "Even though I've gotten so close to her, it's never been like _that_."

Tsukasa smiled fondly as she watched her sister and girlfriend talk. "It's because those two have been in love for the longest time." She said

The brunette blinked. "Wait, Chibi's got the hots for Kagami?"

The lavender haired girl giggled. "She does. I didn't really notice till we started dating though..."

Misao's jaw dropped. _Really!? Was she serious!?_ The revalation amazed the brunette. _And to think, Konata was actually encouraging my relationship with Kagami – all the times she said I'd be the one to make her happy... Wow, she must really love Kagami if she's willing to let her go, just like that..._ All that was well and good but a sudden thought popped up in her mind. _But wait, what about Tsukasa?_

As if reading her thoughts Tsukasa answered her question. "Konata loves me too so it isn't a problem." She smiled. "She told me when I asked and we talked it over."

Misao didn't know what to say to _that_. The whole thing was mind boggling for her. What took her and Kagami nearly three months to work out had taken those two a single conversation to resolve. "How is that you two have practically no problems in your relationship?"

Tsukasa put a finger on her chin and looked up. After thinking for a bit, she finally answered. "We DO have problems, but we talk about them and they get solved quickly." When she received no response, she grew worried. "Is that bad?"

"No, it's actually pretty amazing" Misao said honestly, before adding quietly "and really unfair..."

And so their morning continued – and if you're wondering what Miyuki was doing, she was spaced out again.

**LUCKY STAR**

It was Saturday and Yutaka and Minami (among others) had gone to school for festival preparations. It just so happened that Class 1-D was pretty much completely ready for event so the two ended up going to school for no reason.

"It seems that we are the only two who showed up today..." Minami stated, noting how the classroom was empty.

Yutaka sweat dropped. "Looks like it" She said in agreement.

The having no purpose for being there, two decided to leave room 1-D.

Outside in the hall, there were a few students were milling about, attending to the errands they were tasked to do – mostly going out to buy supplies.

The two walked the hall side by side, Minami striding gracefully through the corridor with Yutaka skipping cheerfully next to her.

"You want to go to the library?" The shorter girl asked.

Minami simply nodded.

**LUCKY STAR**

That day, Patricia Martin went to the Tamura residence to visit a particular perverted glasses girl.

So there she stood in front of the door and knocked. The door opened to reveal a taller, older looking version of Hiyori (sans the glasses). It was her mother, Haruka. "Oh, hello Patricia-chan. Good morning"

"Good morning Mrs. Tamura. What's Hiyori up to?"

"She's upstairs. I think she's been working on that animation since last night. Gonna go check on her? Come on in." And enter she did.

The Tamura household was a fairly small establishment, with the space within a single room being used for various purposes. Those purposes ranged from the average kitchen/dinning/living room combo to a multimedia art studio made for visual, auditory, and literary works. It was quiet, cozy, and housed a mother, father, and only child, all of whom were artists who excelled in their chosen medium.

"Oh, Hiiiyooooriiii~" Patricia chimed as she entered the room immediately noting how dark it was.

The room was messy, but not disorganized. Sheets of paper were in disarray on the floor but they were scattered in a way that separates which set of papers from which. Various manga were stacked on the desk randomly but their content and order seemed to say that there was some sort of onganization to the pile.

And, on the bed, in the midst of the chaos, was Hiyori. Crouched in front of a laptop, the light of its screen casted shadows on her face and reflected off her glasses. Her raven-black hair was frizzy, her clothes were wrinkled, and she had dark bags under her eyes. Overall, she looked like she had been up all night for several nights – not surprising since she WAS up all night for several nights.

Patricia searched the wall for the light switch and flicked it on the moment she found it.

Despite the incandescent bulb filling the once dark room with color, Hiyori was unfazed and continued staring into her computer screen. Now that there was better lighting, Patrica found that the raven haired girl was furiously scribbling on a drawing tablet.

The American sat down on the bed and scooted behind the manga artist. Seeing how she didn't respond to the movement, the blond simply smiled and leaned in close to the raven haired girl's ear. "Hiyori~" With a mischievous light in her eyes, Patricia repeated it in a sing song voice. "Hi-yo-ri~" When that didn't garner a reaction, she giggled. She inched even closer and whispered. "Hiii-yooo-riii~" and then she blew into the glasses girl's ear.

This finally earned a response from Hiyori in the form of her entire body freezing and a blush appearing on her face.

Patricia grinned. "Oh-ha-yo~" (good morning) she whispered, before planting a kiss below the girl's ear. As she pulled away, she could practically see the goosebumps on the glasses girl's rosy cheeks.

Movement by Hiyori's hand and the sound of two pressed keys caught Patricia's eyes and ears. The manga artist had just presses the [CRTL] and [S] keys. The motion was continued when the laptop was closed shut and pushed to the side. After which, the raven haired girl remain perfectly still.

The blond leaned in once more a kissed Hiyori's neck, causing her to shiver. She put her hands on the glasses girl's sides and placed another, slightly wetter kiss below her ear. When a suppressed and shaky gasp suddenly emerged from the trembling girl, Patricia abruptly stopped her assault.

"W-why... why'd you stop...?"

"If you weren't feeling up for it, you could have just said no." She said, putting her hands firmly on the artist's shoulders. "You don't have to force yourself..."

"No, keep going... I want this..."

"That's not what your body is saying. Knee-jerk reactions are normal but I don't know about that shivering." Patricia scolded. "It almost seems like you're scared..."

"I'M NOT!"

That little outburst from Hiyori was heard through out the house, prompting her mother to go check on her. There was a knock on the door. "Hiyori, are you okay?" The two heard the muffled sound of Haruka's voice.

"We're fine, Mrs. Tamura. Were just having a lovers' quarrel or whatever it's supposed to be called." The blond said, just loud enough to be heard through the door. "We'll work it out"

"Lovers...? Okay, take your time. Just keep it down. It's still pretty early in the morning and I don't think the neighbors would appreciate loud noises right now" Then she walked away. As the sound of footsteps incrementally grew fainter, they suddenly started to become loud again. "And Hiyori... You, your girlfriend, your father, and I have to have a little talk once you've settled your differences" She added. It was only then that the mother walked away entirely.

Hiyori winced "Well... that was awkward..." The glasses girl sighed and leaned back, finding her head cushioned by the blonds rather large chest.

"You're telling me..." Patricia chuckled in agreement. As the raven haired girl rested her head on the blond's boobs, the said blond couldn't help but play with the said raven hair.

As her head was stroked, Hiyori purred in pleasure. They sat in silence like that for a whole minute

"I think I get it now. I was going too fast for you, wasn't I?. I'm guessing you're just tired" The quiet atmosphere was pierced by the blond's sudden epiphany. "Come to think of it, I don't really think you're in any condition for the kind of... exercise... I wanted to do with you. I probably shouldn't have tried in the first place"

"Tired..." Hiyori smiled drowsily. "I guess you can say that..."

With a suppressed chuckle, Patrica continued stroking her hair. "This is surprisingly fun..." She commented. "But I don't think we should be keeping your parents waiting"

"... they said to take our time, right?" The raven haired girl said, with a yawn following soon after. It wasn't long until she slipped out of the world of the waking and lay limply on the blond's lap.

 _Cute..._ One look at the sleeping girl's face and the American chuckled again. _And to think I have sex with this girl on a near weekly basis but never went through the hand-holding phase. We started three bases early._ The very thought amused the blond quite a bit.

Shuffling could be heard outside. "She's asleep. No need for you to spy on her" Patricia called out.

At once, the door was opened and in entered Hiyori's parents – her look-alike mother, Haruka, and an unremarkable man with bleached white hair, her father, Kyousuke.

"We're sorry. We didn't expect our daughter to be a lesbian..." Kyousuke apologized. "We got curious"

"Speaking of which, would you mind if you talk about your relationship a bit?" Haruka asked, notebook and pen in hand. At that point, the blond remembered that Hiyori's mother was a writer.

 _Well... this is not what I was expecting._ Patricia smiled. _But hey, I'm not saying no._

**LUCKY STAR**

The school library was quiet that morning. Yutaka and Minami sat at a table far off in a corner where no one could disturb them – not that anyone was THERE to disturb them. The library was an unpopular hang out so few actually spent their time at the place – even less so, considering it was a Saturday with optional attendance for the students.

The two sat in silence. Minami had picked up a book whose title caught her eye and started reading the moment she sat down. Yutaka was content with enjoying the moment with her girlfriend. It was a while before something happened.

Minami had suddenly put down the book and stared forward.

Yutaka felt a blend of emotion's from the stoic but didn't know what to make of it. "Minami's what wrong?"

"It's fine" Minami said automatically. She winced internally. It was the second time in recent memory that her reflex made itself apparent. Again, she was going to say that anyway, but her sense of self control was thrown out the window the moment those words flew out her mouth. "It's fine... The book, just..."

"Just what?" The red head was curious as to what could have caused the mint haired girl such distress and grabbed the book off the table and looked at the page it was open to.

It took a few seconds of reading before a blush exploded into Yutaka's face. "Uh... Um... Well this is... something..." She was practically steaming.

"That's not safe for Yutaka." Minami scolded, taking the book from her. "How can a book like THIS be in a school library?" She muttered

**LUCKY STAR**

"Alright! Rehearsals, people! Show me what you've got!" Konata ordered.

The rest of class 3-B had arrived for their practice that day. Konata immediately climbed up the makeshift stage they had made out of their desks in the front of the classroom. Standing above the rest of her classmates, Konata took charge of them, and they happily complied.

"Rin, wake Miyuki up. Use something loud to startle her or something. Saori, bring out the costumes. We'll try to do it with costumes on later." Her commanding tone carried all through the room, spurring the others into action. "And where the hell is Satomi?"

From the back of the class, Kagami, Misao, and Tsukasa watched the bluenette order her class around. Having been the only ones to have never seen this side of Konata's personality, the girls from 3-C were certainly in awe.

"This is a side of her I've never seen before..." Kagami commented. "... but somehow I'm not surprised..."

"I'm with ya. The chibi's certainly something..." Misao agreed in a mildly bitter tone.

The pony tailed girl noticed this and called her out. "What's with THAT? You jealous or something" She asked with a smirk.

"Yeah. REALLY jealous"

The tsundere blinked. "Oh..." Her cheeks reddened slightly and she looked away, absentmindedly curling the hair in her pony tail. "Right. I forgot how blunt you can be..."

Tsukasa just stood next to them and giggled. As fun as watching Kagami and Konata interact was, she couldn't deny the Misao and Kagami had good chemistry. Her show was cut short when she was called by a certain blue haired otaku.

The person in question was walking towards them. "Tsukasa, we need to find Shiraishi. Miyuki just told me he left hours ago and never came back. We can't have rehearsal without him!"

"I'm here!" There was the sound of running feet, a yell by someone male, and the sliding of the door open. From behind it stood Minoru Shiraishi, Hunched over and out of breath. At his side was a salmon haired girl who shyly hid behind him. "I'm here. I'm sorry I'm late..."

"Ah! Sebastian, you're just in time. We're about to start practice." Konata said. Then she grinned. "By the way, who's that little cutie over there?"

"This is Akira Kogami. She's in middle school and she wanted to go with me to school today"

The bluenette's all too familiar smile appeared on her face. "So what's your relation to her?" She purred. "She your cousin? Half sister? Or perhaps... your lover?"

At that last part, a frown formed on Akira's blushing face. She walked into view, grabbed hold of Konata's shirt, and pulled her down to eye level – not difficult as their heights are not far from each other.

" _How dare you even imply and such relation?_ "

The otaku remained unfazed. She took hold of Akira's wrists and squeezed them slightly, causing them to release their grip on her shirt. "No need to get so worked up. I was only teasing." She smiled and patted the shorter girl's head. "You're a cute little tsundere, aren't you?"

" _Oh you are just ASKING FOR IT._ " The salmon haired girl charged for the bluenette. She was stopped short of attacking Konata by a hand on her shoulder.

Minoru pulled her back and pushed her into a chair. "Sit and cool off." He ordered. With a deep sigh, he turned to the other petite girl. "You know, you should ease up on the teasing when it comes to tsundere. You can do it to Hiiragi-san because she's in love with you. I don't think it would work any other way." He whispered

"Hmm... I suppose you're right... Thanks, Sebastian"

Behind them, Kagami was hind her face in her hands. "Even _Sebastian_ knew!?" To which Tsukasa and Misao giggled.

**LUCKY STAR**

It was around half an hour since Patricia began telling Haruka about Hiyori and her relationship. It would have been longer if she hadn't cut out the steamier details but she wasn't exactly willing to divulge such information to people she wasn't comfortable with, much less to her girlfriend's parents.

Haruka however, was not very impressed. "The way you describe your relationship sounds so... bland." She commented. "I KNOW there's more to it than than. C'mon, give me the juicy bits!"

Patricia sighed. "I'm sorry, but no"

The mother was still not dissuaded, though. "Can I at least watch the next time you two do it?" She asked

The blond blushed. "HELL NO!" She yelled in denial, waking the sleeping girl on her lap.

"W-what happened!?" She asked in confusion


	9. End of morning Start of something

**LUCKY STAR**

"I can't believe you told her!"

After a rather awkward conversation with her parents, Hiyori and Patricia were once again left alone in Hiyori's room. Despite the adults leaving, the awkward atmosphere remained. It was clearly felt by the two standing between the door and bed.

"From our talk earlier, I can tell she pretty much knew from the start so why are you so upset?" Patricia asked. "It's not like it's a big deal if they already knew."

"No, that's not the point! You told her without me!" The raven haired girl yelled. Quickly following her outburst, she suddenly lost balance and collapsed sidewards.

_Uh oh..._

Quick on the reflexes, Patricia caught her before she hit her head on the table next to her. "Maybe we should move this conversation to the bed?" She suggested as she gingerly helped the manga artist back to her feet. It wasn't the first time the blond made that suggestion and, unfortunately, Hiyori didn't seem to notice change in context.

"Oh no, you're not going to get out of this that easily" She scolded. "I wanted to tell them together. Why did you... you... why did you disregard... my..." The raven haired girl once again went limp and fell forward into Patricia's arms.

 _Great..._ The American sighed. "You need to lie down." She put one arm around Hiyori's waist and another slinked behind her legs to pick her up princess style.

"I told you to... to... stop..."

 _And I told YOU to lie down._ Patricia gently lowered her onto the bed. "Don't try to get up, because if you do, I'm pinning you to the bed."

Hiyori almost immediately tried to get back up. "I... can't believe you..." She said weakly. "There's a problem I want to talk to you about and you try to have your way with me. What's wrong with you!?" This earned a tired groan from the blond.

_Oh, for the love of-_

Staying true to her word, the Patricia got on top of Hiyori and put her hands on her shoulders, pinning her down. "Okay, you wanna talk, let's talk." She said, staying perfectly still as the raven haired girl struggled under her weight.

Eventually she got tired and stopped. "... well... what are you waiting for...?" The artist asked, apparently resigned to what she believes was her fate. "... take me..."

 _You have got to be kidding me. How can you have misread the situation this much..._ Once again, Patricia sighed. _Then again, she's really sleepy and it's not exactly hard to get the wrong idea from my actions..._ "I think that talk's gonna have to wait until you get some more sleep."

Hiyori made another effort to get her blond lover off of her but to no avail. As she grew more and more tired, the movement became less and less apparent, until the point where it seemed she was perfectly still. She was finally asleep again.

_Finally._

With a slight chuckle, the blond removed her hands off of the raven haired girl's shoulders and rolled off her. As she lied on the bed next to her girlfriend, Patricia wondered what she would say to her once she woke up and had that talk.

**LUCKY STAR**

Class 3-B's rehearsals were well underway. The props were set up, the costumes were worn, and on the makeshift stage was the inside of a castle. The various extras were going about their business until Minoru and Tsukasa suddenly burst out of a door at the side of the stage, prompting the several extras to suddenly stop what they were doing and kneel in front of the queen only to be ignored as the two passed by them, paying no heed.

"Why are we doing this again? It doesn't even seem like she can see us."

"Just shut up and kneel."

Tsukasa strode through the hall regally, red cloak dragging on the floor. The crown resting on her head sparkled as it passed under the light. "So here's the key to the armory. Take any old weapon and get going." She ordered, casually tossing a large key to Minoru who was following behind. "Get some other knights to join you while you're at it"

Minoru fumbled in catching the key, taking several seconds before he got a good grip on it. He was clad in a blue shirt and brown pants, with a helmet, chest plate, arm guard, and grieves worn over said clothes.

"Please tell me you're kidding. You're kidding, right?" The prospect of selecting his own equipment and forming his own party obviously didn't sit well with him.

Tsukasa, completely ignoring her knight, continued giving orders. "Anyway, if you find any trouble, talk to the peasants, okay? Now go rescue the princess!" She said, pushing her vassal out the door on the other side of the stage.

Minoru blinked as the castle door closed behind him. "Wait, right now?"

At the back of the classroom, Kagami, Misao, and Akira were watching the show.

"It's hard to believe that it's Imouto talking on that stage." Misao commented. "It's like she's an entirely different person"

"Yeah, I know right?" Kagami agreed. "I mean, remember that scene in the hallway? Jeez, I never thought I'd ever think of my sister was scary before today. Konata's training must have really paid off."

The two glanced at the salmon haired girl right next to them. Akira was watching intently with a scowl on her face. It seemed like she had her eyes trained on Minoru. As the shorter girl glared at the male lead, the two couldn't help but wonder what was making her so upset.

"That Kogami girl. You think she's got the hots for Shiraishi?" Misao asked

"Who?"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "You know, Minoru Shiraishi, the male lead? The guy up on stage right now, literally right in front of you?"

 _Was that... sarcasm?_ Kagami wondered. _Sarcasm... I never thought I'd see the day._ "Oh... His name's Shiraishi? I've always called him Sebastian."

"Eh...? Sebastian?" The fanged girl shook her head to dispel her confusion. "Nevermind. That Akira girl. You think she has the hots for him?"

"Hmmm" The lavender haired girl thought back to the way they acted earlier that day. Akira seemed like a pretty nice girl most of the time but sometimes had little scenes where she acts really nasty, normally towards Minoru. She recalled Akira being really mean – bordering abusive – to the boy, and he would just stand there and take it. But for whatever reason, when her outbursts started affecting others, Minoru suddenly stops being all submissive and takes control, and Akira just lets him.

 _Their relationship is just so weird. Is that really love...? I guess it is but IS technically love but is it a romantic form of love? Is that acceptance of each other's dominance their form of showing affection and trust?_ The pony-tailed tsundere looked at the girl in question. Sure enough, the girl was still staring at Minoru – a bit intensely, but staring all the same. _It doesn't really look like she's in love... IS SHE, though? I mean, I'm no expert or anything but I just can't see it..._

She glanced at Konata. She was also watching the scene intently, albeit not as focused on a single character. Kagami couldn't help but notices how the bluenette's eyes would light up as her scanning gaze passed over Tsukasa.

Looking back at Akira, the same fire could be seen in her eyes. _It can't be that simple. Can love really be determined by the way someone looks at a person? Is THAT why Sebas- er... why Shiraishi-san knew I had feelings for Konata?_

Kagami frowned. _He knows I'm dating Misao but he still assumes I like Konata..._ Her brows furrowed even more. _There HAS to be a trick to this. Akira, are you in love with Minoru? Show me a sign._

Her train of thought was suddenly derailed when Misao poked her side, causing her to jump. "Wah! Misao, I swear to god!" She said, ready to smack her girlfriend on the head.

The brunette in question stepped back with his hands raised in surrender. "Hey, you had that 'over thinking things' face again. I was only worried."

The tsundere's expression softened. She lowered her fist and apologized. "Right... sorry..."

After a few awkward seconds of silence, Misao asked again "... So, do you think she's got the hots for him or not?"

Kagami sighed in relief. She was grateful her girlfriend was good at easing the tension in those kinds of situations. "I can see that they love each other, but I'm not sure if it's _that_ kind of love..."

"You too? It's hard to get a read on them, you know?" The brunette stated. "Their relationship is just so _weird_."

"Don't say things like that aloud. It's rude."

**LUCKY STAR**

Nanako Kuroi awoke that morning feeling sick. Not ATUALLY sick, mind you. Something was just eating at her.

She had been living alone for quite a while, and in that time, she had gotten very used to her apartment to the point of noticing even the smallest of changes. From the moment she gained consciousness, her senses were assaulted by the foreign stimuli found in her room.

She got up and saw how all her dirty clothes were no longer a scattered mess on the floor but neatly folded in her closet. Her dishes had also been cleaned, and her fridge restocked with a week's worth of groceries. Further inspection of her room showed that the vast collection of video games in her shelves have been organized by platform, by genre, and by alphabetical order.

The blond smiled and gazed at the shelves. _I never asked for THIS, but I'm glad he did this. Never knew how much better this would have looked if I just organized them. I almost feel like he did too much for what I gave..._ She smiled. _Though I guess I shouldn't feel TOO bad. I mean, I DID pay him._

She looked at the clock. _Ten a.m., huh? I still have plenty of time._ With a grin, she sat down in front of her computer and booted it up.

**LUCKY STAR**

"Hey, Kagami, I'm gonna check the classroom again." In the past hour, Misao had checked classroom 3-C twelve times, and each time she found it to be empty.

Kagami sighed. _It's ten a.m. already. If they didn't arrive an hour ago, what make's you think they'll show up now?_ She thought. However, she didn't let her pessimism show and simply said "I might as well join you"

She grabbed the shoulder of a passing propsman and asked him to tell Konata, Miyuki, and Tsukasa that they were going to check on their classroom and that if they didn't come back, that meant their class had arrived. _Not that I have my hopes up, but better safe than sorry... oh what am I thinking? It's not like its the end of the world if I don't tell them where I am... right...?_

As the two left 3-B for the room next door, they bumped into their homeroom teacher, Hikaru Sakuraba. She looked at the two and waved lazily before entering the classroom. The two followed suite.

 _Lo and behold, an empty classroom._ Kagami pinched the bridge of her nose. _At this point, I didn't really expect anyone to come but it still frustrates me to no end that they didn't show up._

"So, you two..." Sakuraba said as she inspected the half finished decorations. "What's your plan for these?" She asked lazily.

"Well, we... we were supposed to set it up today and tomorrow but..." The tsundere was embarrassed – for both the class and herself. Sakuraba wasn't very active over her class. She gave them a lot of freedom and only intervened when things got out of hand or when nothing was getting done. She knew the class was smart and treated them as such. That said, Kagami couldn't help but feel shameful for how her classmates were so lazy. "... no one showed up..."

"Have you tried contacting them?" The teacher suggested.

"I sent them some messages but they don't reply..."

"So, that's it...?" Sakuraba sighed and pushed up her glasses. "Well, it's not like this is _my_ problem. I'm confident you'll find a solution on your own." With another lazy wave, she walked out of the classroom. "I'll be at the nurse's office if you need me"

And so, the two were left in the empty classroom. A sickening silence filled the air. It was so thick you could drown in it – which was what Kagami felt was happening.

_This was MY problem. I was the one who had to find a solution... But I didn't... What did I do...? I ignored it! I let it go on for hours without thinking about it...! I blamed my classmates for this problem – and I still believe it's their fault – but I have to be the one to fix it. I'm responsible for this...! And look at me now! Instead of doing my job, I'm wallowing in self pity...! Get a grip Kagami! Stop this! STOP THIS NOW...! I... I can't... I can't do this... I... I..._

She was pulled out of her downward spiral by a slap to the face. "I'm sorry. I tried other ways to snap you out of it but none of them worked. That was the only other thing I could think of." Misao said, worry clearly etched into her face. "I'm here. I can help you. We can even ask the others – THEY can help too... You don't have to face this alone"

"What can YOU do to help!?" Kagami screamed as tears flowed down her face. "You're about the second least responsible person I know! What makes you think you CAN help!?" She shouted as she repeatedly punched Misao's chest. The brunette just stood there as Kagami flailed around. Her blows were weak but the tsundere continued her onslaught. Eventually her attack stopped and she leaned her head on Misao's shoulder. "Please give me a reason... I NEED A REASON..." she whispered.

Misao grit her teeth and pulled Kagami into a hug. "I say I can help because it's for you" She said plainly, as if it were the most obvious thing it the world. She tightened her hold as the lavender haired girl hugged back. "Even if I had no idea how to do it, I'd do it for you..." The brunette stated, knowing full well what her girlfriend would say in reply.

"Y-you're gonna look like an idiot... if you do that..." Kagami commented, voice still somewhat shaky. "If you p-plan on helping, you b-better do it right..."

With a quiet chuckle, Misao replied. "Heh, I know."

The two stayed intertwined for a while, enjoying the other's presence.

"What are we going to do, though?" The tsundere asked, finally recovering. "It's already ten. We only have five hours left for preparations today. Even IF I get them show up, is that enough time?"

"We always have tomorrow" The brunette reminded her. "Besides, it's not like it's that big a deal if our class doesn't make a booth that's all great. What matters is that we have fun."

"But this is our last festival in this school. I want it to be special..."

"You'll be with me" Misao said. "Isn't that special enough?"

"I suppose..." Kagami chuckled. "When the hell did you get so smooth?"

The two broke off from the hug and smiled at each other.

"Man, today's just been filled with drama." Misao laughed. "First there's the incident with your ribbon"

"Don't remind me"

"Then there's that Kogami chick who nearly clobbered Chibi. Then all that acting on the stage. Now this. Just... wow"

"C'mon. Let's eat. We'll figure this out after lunch"

**LUCKY STAR**

"Great rehearsal everyone! Early lunch break for everyone! Be back here by twelve-thirty!"

Practice finished without any problems aside from the very liberal use of improv – it was obvious that most of the assigned actors didn't even _try_ to memorize their lines. Not that Konata was complaining – she was actually really impressed they managed most of the play using their own lines while still keeping it coherent. That said, she gave them something of a reward in the form of their hour long break.

As a half the class left the room for the cafeteria, the other half brought out their boxed lunches. One particular girl sat in the back corner of the room, laying down two lunch boxes. That girl was Tsukasa.

The lavender haired girl smiled, pleased with herself. She had consistently woken up early for over two weeks to prepare lunch for Konata, her sister, and herself – she considered that quite a big achievement – and considering her old sleeping habits, she was right in feeling that way.

 _She's going to love this._ With a giggle, Tsukasa called out to her girlfriend. "Konata, come and get your lunch."

At the front of the class, sitting on the stage and chatting with some of her other classmates was Konata. When she heard her her name called, she turned to face the voice. Upon seeing that it was Tsukasa, a smile appeared on the bluenette's face. She bid goodbye to her classmates and skipped over to the lavender haired girl.

 _She's like a kid._ Tsukasa thought as the girl skipped towards her. _So cute._

"Oh, my ever beautiful and talented chef, what is on the menu today?" The otaku said as she plopped onto the floor next to Tsukasa. "Either way, I _know_ it's gonna be delicious. _Everything_ you make tastes amazing."

Tsukasa blushed. _Kona-chan does this every time she eats my food but I can never get used to it. She just makes me so excited every time._ "Well I don't know about that..." She passed the lunch box to Konata. "I'm not telling you what it is, though. It's a surprise."

Konata pouted as she accepted the lunch box. As she moved to open it, she could see that Tsukasa was leaning towards her with anticipation. Konata grinned and slowly lowered the box to the ground. Seeing Tsukasa's eager face morph into a frown as the box got closer to the ground caused the otaku's grin to widen – even more so when she began opening it again and Tsukasa's pout became a smile once more. This action of raising and lowering repeated for a number of times.

She was starting to get annoyed. "Konata..." Tsukasa said in warning.

"Okay, seriously, what's in this thing?" The bluenette asked, finally relenting.

"Just open it already~."

"Oh if you insist" With the, the otaku opened the box. Its contents left her jaw-dropped. Inside the plastic container was "Rice..." Just rice. "Uh... I'm certainly surprised..."

 _Rice..._ It was taking everything Tsukasa had not to show how close she was to bursting out in laughter. "Well... go on... eat..." _C'mon._ _Eat your... rice..._

With more than a little reluctance, Konata sunk her chopsticks into the rice and then suddenly stopped. She saw that under the layer of rice was an omelet. A smile grew on the bluenette's face. "Well, surprising indeed!" With a laugh, she dug into her meal.

Tsukasa's heart skipped a beat when she heard that laugh. It took unreasonable amounts of effort to keep herself from pulling Konata into a hug and squeezing her silly. She never expected to feel that strongly for her girl's reaction.

Three months ago, a reaction like that would have simply made the lavender haired girl smile and maybe laugh as well. But back then, she saw Konata simply as a friend she cared deeply for. Now, she saw her as something else – something different but just as nice. Now, she saw her as her lover.

_Oh, this just makes me so bubbly inside! Uuuuuwuuuuuwuwu!_

Tsukasa's day dream was brought to an end when she felt a hand on her side. Not only did she make an embarrassing noise upon contact, it also seemed that while in a day dream, she had curled up into a fetal position as she suddenly found herself on her side, hugging her legs. She got up and looked at Konata.

"Tsukasa made a cute sound." She teased. The bluenette was kneeling, apparently in preparation to stand up. "Hate to ruin your little adventure in wonderland, but teach finally arrived. Apparently she wants to talk to me and Miyuki. See you in a bit." With that, she got to her feet and skipped to the front of the class where Nanako Kuroi was waiting.

The lavender haired girl sighed and finally got started eating.

**LUCKY STAR**

"Glad to see you're finally awake." Patricia chimed.

Hiyori rubbed her head as she sat up. Her mind was numb and still painfully drowsy. She'd give an arm and a leg to go back to bed had she not remembered the talk Patricia had promised her. She gave her head a violent shake to snap herself awake, unfortunately resulting in no increase in awareness and an undesirable intensification of her headache.

A groan escaped from her lips. "Oh my aching head."

"Want some coffee or something?" Patricia asked

Hiyori raised her hand in dismissal. "No, I'm good..." She massaged her temples, quite obviously not okay yet. "Now... what were we talking about?"

The blond sighed. "I told your mom about us and you overreacted." She said dryly.

 _Mom... us... overreacted? No, I didn't do that..._ As the pieces started coming back together, a look of rage appeared on the artist's face. "Overreacted?! Oh, I did NOT overreact!"

"You exploded into my face the moment they were out the door."

"Because you told them without me!" Hiyori yelled. _Why am I so angry?_

"They already knew." Patricia reminded her. "They figured it out on their own."

"That's not the point! I wanted to tell them TOGETHER!" _Is that really so important to me? So important that I'm screaming at the girl I love?_

The blond sighed again. She looked like she wanted to just raise her hands in defeat and just walk out the room. It was breaking the artist's heart just looking at her.

"Am I just not important to you...? Do my opinions not matter...?" Hiyori said finally. "Will you just disregard everything I say because you know I'm submissive...?"

There it was. That was her problem. It took three hours but Hiyori finally realized why she had been so angry. _I was mad because I had no agency... I was just a tool... a toy... I could just be thrown away whenever she feels like I've outlived my purpose. I didn't matter._

The raven haired girl could feel the tears run down her face. "Is that all I am to you? A doll to have your erotic fantasies with?" She choked back a sob. "You had my consent, but now, I doubt it even matters. You'd probably force yourself on me regardless of what I say... because my opinions aren't worth anything to you..."

"Hiyori..." She could feel Patricia's hand on her shoulder. "... I'm sorry. Your opinions DO matter. I should have made that clearer in my actions..."

Hiyori couldn't believe what she was hearing. An apology was the last thing she expected to get and yet that was exactly what she received. _Well I'll be damned..._

"But still, you should have said that was your problem from the start" Patricia added. "If I was being a bitch, fucking tell me. I'm not a mind reader" She scolded.

Hiyori laughed and rubbed the tears out of her eyes. "Heh. Sorry..."

Patricia gave her a peck on the lips and a quick hug. "Better?"

Hiyori nodded drowsily. "Y-yeah..." _I guess I still need more sleep. Still, I'm glad we were able to resolve this before I collapsed again._

With a smile, she gladly fell back into the embrace of sleep.

**LUCKY STAR**

"Yo, teach" Konata skipped to the front of the class.

The blond teacher, Nanako Kuroi looked at the blunette and smiled. "Oh, Izumi. Do I have a story to tell you"

With a smirk, the otaku raised an eye brow. "Hmm? I take it you gave in and did it? The rent-a-middle-aged man thing?"

"Yeah, you'll never guess who it is..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three guesses on who the middle aged man is. The first two don't count since it should be obvious at this point.
> 
> Why am I not surprised that I suddenly put more Kagami drama in this chapter? I was aiming for the OTHERS to get development! Why, brain? Why must this always happen when I set you to auto pilot?
> 
> There's also this other problem that I want to get a move on with the plot. This is why I hate doing days where they don't have school. I have to use so many chapters for what is a single day (The entire summer sleep over arc took five chapters even though it only spanned a single 24 hour cycle)


	10. The day finally ends

**LUCKY STAR**

"C'mon, pick up... pick up... answer the phone, damn it..."

That afternoon, Kagami was very distressed. Not distressed in a sense that she was running around in panic. Moreover, she felt like she was slowly sinking in a numbingly cold lake, and when she tried to swim up, she saw that it had frozen over. She couldn't breath and couldn't move.

As class rep of 3-C, she was responsible for her section's plans for the school festival. She was also, in essence, the one to blame if and when those plans don't reach fruition – and by the looks of it, chances of success were hopelessly low.

Kagami flipped her phone closed and rubbed her face in despair.

"That's half the class..." She said in a forced monotone. It took all her will power to not break down on the spot. "Half the class said outright that they give up..."

Alas, even with all of Kagami's efforts, they just really didn't want to do anything. After lots of angry shouting from Kagami; after a passive-aggressive scolding by Ms. Sakuraba; hell, even after putting enough effort to get their plans halfway done, they just decided that they actually didn't care.

"We never wanted to do anything in the first place." One classmate said. "Technically, the school doesn't really require us to have something ready." Another argued. "Besides, this is an extra-curricular thing. They have no right to punish us if we don't comply."

The tsundere was stubborn and didn't back down. She did her best to convince her classmates to think otherwise. It was unfortunate that most of them were just as stubborn, if not, more so than she was. She only managed to persuade a handful to even just consider continuing their work. Provided they actually decide to actually start doing things again, their meager number still wasn't enough to get the ball rolling again.

 _What is wrong with those kids!? It's tradition! It's fun! It's a freakin' festival! Why don't they want anything to do with it!?_ Kagami screamed inside her head. _Why don't they care...?_

There was little she could but scream. And she did. She cried the loudest she ever had in years. That was all she could remember doing.

**LUCKY STAR**

"Alright! Remember, our practice tomorrow's gonna be at the auditorium!" From the top of the makeshift stage at the front of the classroom, Konata announced to her classmates. "All of you show up! Get here before lunch if you can!" She ordered. "Great rehearsal, everyone! Dismissed!"

Practice that afternoon had picked up after lunch. They did the entire play from the top with cuts in between where Konata would rush in and make suggestions. Then, they did every scene from start to finish in one go. They did it three times and each time was different from the last.

The play was a little over half an hour in run-time - and at least half of that time involved the two main characters' back and forth banter. That said, the actors who played said characters were exhausted. Of the two, Tsukasa was the more fatigued.

She sat down on one of the seats at the back of the classroom and took a rest. _Acting feels so natural but why do I always feel so tired afterwards?_ Tsukasa asked herself. _It's so easy but so exhausting..._

She surveyed the room about her. The students were all packing their bags in preparation to leave - many have indeed already left. Miyuki still seemed to be busy speaking with some of the costume designers and props men in one corner of the room. Konata was skipping towards her. It seemed like she was skipping more out of habit than from any actual joy. Her face was neither happy nor smiling.

Tsukasa frowned _. I wonder what Kona-chan is thinking about..._ She soon found out as the bluenette was now in front of her.

"Hey, Tsukasa. Do you know where Kagami is?" She asked

She wanted to know the sister's whereabouts. _Well, that makes sense._ Tsukasa thought. _Come to think of it, where IS she?_ "Let me check"

She began shifting through the stuff her bag. After a moment, she found her phone which had a number of unread messages. Seeing its contents distressed the lavender haired girl immensely.

[From: Misao K.  
Subject: N/A

Kagami having breakdown. Nothing I say working. Help]

[From: Misao K.  
Subject: N/A  
She passed out. Taking her to nurse]

[From: Misao K.  
Subject: N/A  
Has been hours. Shes not waking up. What do I do?]

[From: Misao K.  
Subject: N/A  
Sorry if Im bothering you. Im just so worried.]

Tsukasa must have been wearing her emotions on her sleeve as, when she looked up from reading, she saw Konata worriedly staring at her. She could sense the anxious curiosity in the shorter girls face. She handed the phone to Konata for her to read.

As she went through the messages, a frown appeared on her face. "C'mon. Let's go to the nurse's office" She finally said

Tsukasa did hear the words from the bluenette's mouth - quite clearly in fact - but they didn't register. She was still trying to swallow what she just read.

 _Sis had another anxiety attack... But why? Why did she have another one today?_ She wondered. _It couldn't be Misao. If it was just something she did or said then it would have been easily resolved._ She thought for a bit. _Maybe its her classmates? Wait... That's gotta be it! That's why she had an attack. She was stressing over the festival and her class pushed her over the edge._ She concluded. _Why would they do that!? Do they hate my sister? She's one of the most awesome people in the world! Why would they hate her? She deserves better than them! She...she... just.._.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the sharp sound of snapping fingers.

"I swear, the whole overthinking thing has to run in the family or something." Konata muttered. "Stop thinking and start doing. Improvise!" She grabbed Tsukasa's hand and began dragging her out the room. "Now c'mon! Let's check on Kagami."

"W-wait." Tsukasa desperately attempted to fix her bag with one hand as she was pulled through the door. "Let me fix my things, please."

**LUCKY STAR**

Minami and Yutaka had spent majority of their afternoon wandering the school. The campus had a mysterious air about it when the students were busy with classes - or in this case, festival preparations. The muffled noise from inside the classrooms added to the ambiance. At one point, Yutaka had even joked that the school was magic.

However, while for the first half of the afternoon they were enjoying the quiet atmosphere that the empty halls were providing, in the later half, they were enjoying no longer. Instead, they sat in the oppressive silence of the nurse's office, watching one certain brunette pacing the floor and another pony-tailed girl who was asleep on the bed.

"I hope Kagami's okay" Yutaka muttered. Minami nodded in agreement.

It was by mere coincidence that the two dropped by the infirmary at the exact moment that Kagami and Misao came charging in. In that moment in seeing Kagami, unconsious in the arms of her girlfriend, Minami's motherly instincts kicked in.

She instructed Misao to lay the passed out girl on the bed and then proceeded to call the nurse. After which, she began asking what happened to Kagami. It was standard operating procedure for a health officer and had long become second nature to the stoic.

Misao had told them what happened but Minami didn't really think about it at the time - while assisting the nurse, she keep a very no-nonsense attitude. Now that her duty was finished, however, she DID start thinking about it now. She found that the feelings it brought were no pleasant.

_Does her class have so little unity and self respect to outright refuse to work? They have the right to that but they also have the responsibility to finish what they started. As she thought this, a frown appeared on her normally stoic face. Senpai was only doing her job. They had no right to make her cry._

Minami felt a hand squeeze her own. Beside her, Yutaka looked at her and shook her head.

The mint haired girl closed her eyes and sighed. _She's right. Getting angry right now won't do any good for anyone._ When she opened her eyes again, she was met with a sad smile by the red-head. Minami blinked and gave her a slow and thoughtful nod. _I know._ Y _ou're worried too. I'm sorry._

Misao was still walking back and forth across the room despite the nurse's advise to relax. "What can I do to help? I want to help but nothing's working. What haven't I tried yet...?" She kept muttering.

Minami watched the brunette pace. It was obvious she was unnerved and her clearly visible distress was making Yutaka and Minami distressed as well. Moving her gaze back to the red head next to her, she gave her a questioning look, to which Yutaka closed her eyes and nodded.

The stoic stood and walked over to the nervous wreck pacing in circles and seized her by the shoulders. The brunette grew wide eyed in surprise. She stared at Misao and she stared back. Neither moved nor blinked. A single word was uttered. "Relax".

The two's staring continued. Even when tears began flowing down Misao's cheeks, they remained locked in each other's gaze. "But..."

"Relax." Said Yutaka who hugged Misao from behind. "She'll be fine. She'll get through this and you'll be there with her."

"I know..." Misao choked back a sob. "But I can't just sit and do nothing..."

Minami let go of her shoulders. "You AREN'T doing nothing." She said with finality. She then walked back to the chair she was occupying earlier.

Yutaka made one final squeeze and released Misao from the embrace. "wait and be strong for her..." She whispered before returning to the mint haired girl's side.

The brunette rubbed the tears for her eyes and chuckled. "Thanks... I needed that..." She said shakily. "Still, just sitting down isn't my style." A smile slowly began forming on her face. "I'm gonna go for a run. If she wakes up before I get back, call me ASAP."

With that, Misao Kusakabe opened the door to the nurse's office and left.

Yutaka beamed at Minami. "I'm glad she feels better now." The stoic offered a small smile and nodded.

**LUCKY STAR**

The walk to the nurse's office was silent and tense. Foot steps echoed the halls as they continued, the sound of Konata's sneakers contrasting Tsukasa's boots. Not a word was said between them. Words weren't needed. They both knew how the other felt because they both felt the same way.

Konata and Tsukasa rounded a corner and suddenly bumped into a high velocity brunette

"Ow... Jeez Misakichi. You're not supposed to run in the halls" Konata was sprawled on the floor, having received the brunt of the impact.

Misao was down as well. "Right. Sorry." She attempted to sit up, actively avoiding eye contact. "Didn't mean to run into you. I sorta have a lot on my mind..." There was little of the usual energy found in her voice

Konata noticed this and frowned. "Don't worry about it." With a sigh, she rolled over onto her stomach and pushed herself back to her feet. "It didn't hurt THAT badly. Can't say the same about Tsukasa, though..." The bluenette turned to her girlfriend who was struggling to stand back up. She held out her hand. "Hey, you okay?"

"I-I'm fine" Tsukasa said. She took the offered hand and stood up. "Let's keep going, Konata..."

She most certainly was NOT fine. It was clear she must have twisted her wrist when she fell as she was doing her best not to move her right arm. Even still, Konata didn't call her out on it and simply nodded.

The otaku looked at Misao. "I hope you don't run for too long. You should be there when Kagami wakes up..." She gave a small salute. "See you later..."

The brunette kept her back turned and remained quiet. After a second, she resumed her running, not even bothering with a response.

Konata watched in stony silence. _I can't blame her for not wanting to talk. She's been pretty good at calming Kagami down but she's only human. There's only so much that her words can do - and sometimes, words aren't enough..._ She shook her head to expel unwanted thoughts. _No, it's not the time and place for that._ "C'mon, Tsukasa..."

The bluenette picked up Tsukasa's bag and began walking. The said lavender haired girl follow suit, clutching her right arm.

"We're gonna need to have that checked, you know..." Konata commented as she slung the bag over her shoulder

"I know... But my problem isn't as important as sis's"

Konata frowned. _No, you're problem is completely different so it can't be more or less important than Kagami's._ She thought. "We're still going to the nurse to check on Kagami." She reassured. "It's just that we're gonna have that sprain checked as well"

Tsukasa nodded and the two of them continued walking.

**LUCKY STAR**

Minoru walked the halls while Akira followed quietly next to him.

"Ms. Akira... I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't expect Izumi-san to be so teasing to someone she doesn't even know" The boy said.

"Don't mention it. I was really about to smack her. Thanks for stopping me..."

She suddenly punched him.

"Ow! Hey, what was that for?"

Akira glared at him and them looked away. " _Nothing..._ "

Minoru blinked and then sighed. He was used to it at that point. After all, three years should have been plenty of time for him to get used to her behavior.

Suddenly, he stopped and looked out the window. This prompted Akira to do the same. Outside, on the track was a certain brunette running full sprint around it. "Misao..." He muttered.

"Who?"

"She's one on those girls you almost punched this morning." He said. "The tanned girl who assumed you were a primary school girl."

The red-head's expression immediately soured. " _Well, what the hell is she doing? Why's she running around like that? Is she trying to kill herself from exhaustion?_ " She smiled to herself. "Actually, if she IS planning on that, it just means there'll be less people to hate..."

"You really have to stop thinking like that." Minoru sighed. "I'm guessing she's having some trouble with something. She normally goes on runs like this when she's stressed or stumped by something" _I wonder what it is..._

"Oh... _Okay?_ " Akira didn't really seem interested and the boy couldn't really blame her. She had met Misao only this morning and it wasn't the best first meeting. He could easily understand why she's indifferent to to the brunette.

Minoru, however, was friends with said brunette. While they weren't all that close, he knew what it took to comfort her when she was down. _And from the looks of things, she's pretty down right now..._ He noted.

He glanced at Akira who was still staring apathetically out the window. He looked back to Misao who had run her third lap since they began watching her. _Akira's gonna hate me for this.._. He thought as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm gonna go talk to her for a bit." He said

"..." Akira didn't respond immediately. She looked at him straight in the eye with an intense stare. Minoru feared what she could possibly be thinking. " _Go..._ " She said finally before looking away.

The boy grimaced. _She is NOT happy._ "I'll meet you are the entrance. I promise" With that, he began his jog to the track field. _I'm sorry._

**LUCKY STAR**

Miyuki stood by the school entrance waiting for Minami, Yutaka, and the rest of her friends.

Outside it was partially cloudy making for a beautiful sunset sky - further made beautiful by the fallen leaves surrounding the school grounds. It had gotten quite chilly since that morning - it wasn't completely unusual but it had caught Miyuki off guard, leaving her rubbing her arms for warmth where she stood. Still, the cold was not unpleasant. It was certainly more preferable to the heat they had that summer.

She was joined in her waiting by a certain Akira Kogami.

If the cold had taken her off guard, her sudden new companion left her completely surprised. "Kogami-san? I thought you'd be with Shiraishi-san"

" _He's got stuff to do. Something about a 'Misao' girl getting all antsy..._ " She said, not even bothering to hide her dislike of the situation.

 _Misao Kusakabe... antsy? Is something bothering her?_ Miyuki thought for a bit. _Of the short time I've known her, it's obvious that she's a very laid back person. The only times I've seen her exhibit any amounts of stress is when it involves track and field or Misao-san. I'll assume she's worrying over Kagami-san._ Her brow furrowed. _If it involves her, normally Misao-san would be able to fix the situation quickly, or at least calm her down until the situation fixes itself. It would be safe to assume she ended up with a problem neither solves itself nor could be solved by her._ _That said, Misao-san would probably ask for help. Perhaps Tsukasa? If that was the case, she and Konata would come to her air in a heart beat._ She deduced. _Now, the only problem is where they are... Wait, of course, the nurse's office. Kagami-san's anxiety attacks sometimes lead to her fainting. Minami and Yutaka are probably in the nurse's office too._ She concluded. _So THAT'S why they're taking so long._

" _Hey, Takara, what's with that blank stare?_ "

Miyuki blinked. She had been lost in thought and had forgotten Akira was standing right next to her. She smiled nervously and apologized. "I'm sorry Kogami-san. I have some things on my mind..."

The shorter girl sighed. "It's fine..."

 _She seemed a lot sadder than she normally is_. The pinkette's gaze lingered on her for a whole second before it shifted to the school behind her. _What is going on back there?_

**LUCKY STAR**

Konata and Tsukasa sat on the bed next to Kagami's. Minami and Yutaka sat on two chair on the opposite side of Kagami's bed. The four of them stared at the girl, lying unconscious under the covers.

Yutaka was acutely aware of the two older girls' anxiety, though it didn't take someone like her to notice it. They weren't obvious about it but neither were they trying to hide their feelings. It wouldn't be hard to guess that they were worried.

"I can't believe the would do that..." Konata said angrily. She wasn't shouting - it was actually just a little louder than a whisper - but thepure emotion in her voice made it feel like she was screaming. "What sort of insensitive pricks would do this...? They were raised to be good Japanese citizens or whatever. Last time I heard, this isn't what someone like that would do."

"Onee-chan..." The red-head could feel her cousin's rage. It was unlike anything she felt before. It was sharp, cold, and aggressive - like a blizzard - and anything caught in it would receive an agonizingly slow and numbing death. Yutaka shivered. Never in her life would she think she'd ever have to imagine something so horrifying like that and yet the feelings she sensed in her blue haired cousin invoked those thoughts with ease.

Tsukasa sniffed. She had been crying for the entire time they were there but not a single sob escaped her lips.

Tsukasa's case was different. She was more like a dam that was slowly accumulating cracks. The leakages here and there could always be fixed by blocking them, but eventually, enough cracks would cause the entire dam to break. Yutaka had to wonder whether this was the first crack or if there had been more in the past. She dearly hoped it was the former rather than the latter.

The red-head felt at hand squeeze her own. She glanced to Minami who merely blinked and then turned away. Yutaka squeezed back and whispered. "I'm sorry. They're getting to me..."

"It's okay. I felt the same way. Just give them some time..."

"I know..."

**LUCKY STAR**

"Hey, Misao!"

The brunette had been running full tilt when she heard the familiar voice of Minoru Shiraishi. Skidding to a halt, she turned to face the boy.

"Shiraishi. What's up?" She asked, rubbing the sweat from her brow.

"Take it easy, Misao. You were running yourself ragged back there" Minoru said.

"Ha. That's what you think" She chuckled. True, she was a little winded but it was nothing to get worried about. She was far from exhausted, at least physically. Emotionally, she was close to breaking down. It was the very reason she was running in the first place.

"Misao... Is there something wrong?"

She replied with a smile. "What makes you think there's something wrong?" She asked innocently. She closed her eyes and sighed. "You know, you'd be the perfect boy friend. You'd be able to tell when your girlfriend or whatever has a problem and be able to fix it." It was said jokingly but it didn't seem like it was meant to be funny. "I'm trying to do that but I don't think I'm doing it well"

"Kagami Hiigragi" The boy said. She didn't even need to outright say it. "I'm guessing that something came up..."

"I was there for her... but it wasn't enough." She stomped her foot in frustration. "I did all I can! What else is there I can do!?"

Minoru rubbed his temples. "Misao, tell me, were you the one to cause... whatever it is that's affecting Kagami?" He asked.

"... No... But-"

"THINK." He cut her off. "It's not your fault. It has nothing to do with you. You can't just go and try solving all of Hiiragi-san's problems for her."

"But-"

"No, Misao." He said before she could interject. "You've done what you can. Hiiragi-san just has to solve this one her own."

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!? THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME I'VE BEEN TOLD THAT. I KNOW I WONT BE ABLE TO HELP HER IN THIS." She knelt, finally giving in to her feelings. No tears fell - she had already cried her eyes out in the infirmary - but they weren't needed to know how Misao felt. "I KNOW I CAN'T DO ANYTHING..." Misao yelled.

"Misao..."

"BUT I CAN'T JUST DO NOTHING"

"Misao, I'm sorry..."

"SO I'M DOING SOMETHING. I'M RUNNING. I'M RUNNING UNTIL I CAN'T RUN ANYMORE."

"Misao, I'M SORRY!" Minoru yelled as well. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I just... I thought..."

He couldn't quite say what he wanted to say. He kept stumbling over himself. Misao kept quiet as he tried again and again to apologize. Even if he managed to finish, she wouldn't forgive him - She didn't need to. It was a misunderstanding. No one was at fault and there was nothing to forgive.

Misao had enough. "Just let me run, Shiraishi. Please..."

Minoru grimaced. He must have thought he had made a grave mistake. Misao didn't blame him for anything, but there was nothing she could do if he blamed himself. "... Go..." He whispered, taking a shaky step backward. "... run..." He closed his eyes and began walking away.

Misao stood like a statue as she watched the boy leave her line of sight. But even when he was gone already she remained rooted in place. She wanted to run. She wanted to forget all her problems until she was ready to face them. But those problems had caught up to her. Where could she run to now?

"Uhhhg. Damn you, Shiraishi! You threw me off my groove!" She groaned in frustration. "Fine! I should be getting back there now anyway."

She stormed towards the school building.

**LUCKY STAR**

As Miyuki walked the halls, she couldn't help but wonder what Minoru had been so upset about. Mere moments before, the boy had dejectedly approached them and said it was time for him to go home. Akira glanced worriedly to Miyuki before following him out the school gates.

_There seems to be a lot of people feeling down today. Kagami, Misao, and now, Minoru. I suppose the stress of festival preparations is taking a heavier toll on some more than others..._

When Miyuki reached the door to the nurse's office, she paused. Her hand hovered over the door knob for a full second before she pulled it took one step away from the door and stared at it.

Something wasn't right and she felt it. Rather, something felt very unpleasant and she wasn't sure she wished to venture further. She felt like her entering the room would be meddling with something she wasn't a part of. It was as if she wasn't welcome.

 _Why do I feel this way? I can think of no plausible reason for me to not enter, so why am I still standing here?_ Miyuki asked herself. _Oh dear, what am I to do? Should I ignore this feeling and enter anyway? Should I just leave right now and go home?_ She wondered. _Those two are my immediate choices but I suppose I could also just sit here and wait for something to happen. After all, my friends are still in there. Whatever happens, they'll have to leave there eventually._

The pinkette sensed someone approaching behind her so she turned to face to incoming person.

"Heya, Takara..."

"Misao-san... Hello" The brunette was surprisingly subdued. "Is Kagami...?" She approached the subject gingerly. She wasn't sure how Misao would react.

"Yeah... She's in there..." She answered as she walked forward and opened the door. "C'mon. Let's go in"

Miyuki sighed to herself. _Because of my indecision, it seems someone else made the choice for me_. She followed Misao into the infirmary.

**LUCKY STAR**

Kagami was slow to wake.

She had dreamed of nothing, and yet that very nothing seemed to be seeping into the physical world, or at least that's what she felt was happening. She felt cold, and empty - like the dreamless sleep she endured had been experienced in the vacuum of space and that was exactly what she was waking up to.

But she knew that wasn't true. She felt the soft cushions and rough fabric under her skin. She could smell the sterile and disinfected air stinging her nose. She could hear the incoherent whispers of the rooms occupants around her. She knew exactly where she was and was sure whether she thought it was better or worse than suffocating in the freezing emptiness of outer space. She had no clue, even when she finally opened her eyes and stared at the white ceiling.

"How long was I out...?" She muttered, not really paying attention to who was around her.

"Since Misao brought you here, you've been unconscious for an hour and a half."

Her eyes remain unfocused but after racking her severely numb mind, she noted that it was Minami who had spoken. "Thank you, Minami-san." She said. She blinked and said simply. "I want to go home."

"Onee-chan..." She felt pressure on her chest and a soothing warmth enter her system.

"Tsukasa..." Her mind registered that her sister was with her. "Please... I'm tired..."

"O-okay..." The younger twin said meekly as she let go of the older twin. "...Um...Can you walk...?"

"Give me a minute"

Kagami blinked, finally putting in the effort to look around. On one side of her was Minami and Yutaka, both staring at her - one with a stoic glare and the other with a cutely anxious gaze. Opposite to them were Konata and Tsukasa, staring in similar fashion.

The tsundere looked at the two of them thoughtfully. I've never seen Tsukasa this worried... and I've never seen Konata this serious... They must really care about me.

One thing she didn't notice immediately was the presence - or lack of presence - of her girlfriend. "Where's Misao...?" She asked.

"Yo..." The door opened and in came Misao. She suddenly stopped in her tracks "... Kagami... How long have you been awake?" She asked, wide eyed. Then she shook her head "Forget it, I don't care anymore." She lunged forward and hugged Kagami. "I'm so glad you're awake now..."

Kagami closed her eyes and returned the hug. She felt drained and the physical contact seemed to be refreshing her. When the pulled away from the hug, Kagami gave Misao a little peck on the lips. "Thanks... I needed that..." She muttered.

Misao reacted out of character in Kagami's opinion. She simply touched her lips and and smiled sadly.

Kagami sat up and turned to Tsukasa. "I think I'm ready now..." The twin replied with a nod.

As The Hiirigis stood, Konata stood as well, shouldering all three of their bags. Kagami noticed this and glanced at Tsukasa. Her right hand was in a splint. She didn't know what happened, but she'd ask when they got home. She just wanted the day to end already and getting home was the first step to it.

The three of them, including Misao began walking out the door. Kagami felt really weird since none of them were talking but in the end, it didn't really matter. She was going home and that was all that was important to her at that time.

_I don't care anymore. The festival doesn't matter now. Nothing matters now..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said I hated writing angst? That has not changed. Every single one of Kagami's anxiety attacks were events I absolutely detested writing. Still, over the course of half a year writing this story, I've been writing angsty and dramatic chapters. I don't know why I do this despite my dislike of it. Maybe I'm a masochist or something.
> 
> Anyway, I'm gonna get a move on with the plot at the expense of possibly killing the pacing. No promises, but it's likely that a number of issues that arose over the course of this story will be resolved in the next few chapters.


	11. A night of knots

**LUCKY STAR**

"Yu-chan, I'm home!"

Konata arrived at the Izumi household just in time to make dinner. She had just escorted Kagami and Tsukasa home and the trip was somber and silent. Now that she had returned to her own home, she was met with more silence upon opening the front door. She was starting to get sick of the deafening quiet that was all too often invading her life recently.

 _Where is everyone? Is Yutaka already asleep?_ Konata asked herself. With a tired sigh, she closed the door and took off her shoes. _Might as well check_. She thought as she began making her way up the stairs.

Right as the bluenette was about to knock, Yutaka's door opened, revealing the sad smile and deep green eyes of its occupant. "Welcome home, Onee-chan" Yutaka greeted.

Konata blinked. "Oh... Hey there..." She was surprised by that"I'm gonna start making dinner now. Any requests?"

It took a while for her to answer but eventually she shook her head. "None... Anything will be fine. It'll taste good either way." She said with subdued cheer.

It was genuinely happy - happy enough to make Konata smile, even - but it felt off. It was like her emotions were leftovers that were taken out of the microwave too early. It wasn't warm enough. _What's going on with her?_ The older girl wondered.

Still, nothing seemed to be wrong. If there was a problem, she was sure Yutaka would at least tell her about it. She nodded at the shorter girl and slid the door closed.

Entering her own room, Konata removed her shirt and shorts and changed into her household clothes - which, coincidentally, was a shirt and shorts as well. Dropping her bag on the floor and leaving her discarded clothes on the bed, she left the room and made her way to the kitchen.

"Now...what to cook...?" Konata wondered aloud

**LUCKY STAR**

"What's got YOU so moody?"

Misao arrived home in the middle of dinner. Without even changing out of her track suit, shesat down at the table and began eating. Even with everyone else's head start, she still managed to finish before all of them. She excused herself from the table, brought her plate to the sink, and went upstairs to her room without uttering a single word. She took off her clothes, tossed them against the wall and collapsed into the bed. She was about to drift into unconsciousness when suddenly she heard her brother's voice.

Misao groggily sat up and and glared at Masaru. "What do you want?"

Masaru blinked as he returned her gaze. "Well for starters, I want you to answer my question" He dead panned. "I'll ask again in case you already forgot. What's got you so moody?"

"I don't want to answer" Misao said before turning around and burying her face into her pillow. "Just go away" Was the muffled demand she added shortly after.

Masaru remained silent for some time. Eventually he sighed. "Whatever. Just don't let it get to you for too long. As much as I hate seeing you happy, seeing you sad is just too unusual for me." With that, the boy left the room.

A few minutes after he left, Misao rolled over and looked at the ceiling. _Kagami..._ She thought, sending a flood of worry into her chest, making it hard to breathe. _I can't help you. You can only help yourself._ She closed her eyes tightly, tears beginning to form. _So why aren't you doing that yet?_

**LUCKY STAR**

Dinner at the Iwasaki estate was... lively? Tatsuya Takara and Shintaro Iwasaki, father of Miyuki and Minami respectively, had suddenly returned from work that evening surprising not only the two daughters, but the two wives as well.

"We took the week off." Tatsuya said. "We realized that our daughters are going to be having their school festival so we went on leave. I'm sure the executives won't mind running the company for seven days without us. Ain't that right, Shintaro?" He slapped his thigh in laughter.

"Absolutely!"

As the two men talked animatedly about their office shenanigans with their employees, Miyuki and Minami sat next to each other and ate, stealing glances at one another as they non-verbally communicated across the table.

Minami blinked and tilted her head towards her father, looking at him for a split second before shooting a questioning look to Miyuki. _Did you know about this?_ She was asking.

Miyuki smiled and closed her eyes, shaking her head slightly. She opened her eyes and glanced at her own father, before raising her hand up to her mouth to hide her silent chuckling. _I knew as much about this as you did. It's certainly a pleasant surprise._

Minami nodded and the two returned to their meal.

**LUCKY STAR**

Konata and Yutaka were doing the dishes when they heard their front door unlock and open. Shortly after, they heard a tired greeting from the house's only male occupant.

"I'm home!" Sojiro called out. He sounded tired - happy, but tired. "Did you save me some food? I'm starving." He said as he entered the kitchen.

"Good evening Uncle Sojiro"

"Hey there, dad." Konata greeted "Tonight and last night's leftovers are in the fridge. Pick a box and heat it up"

"Thanks, Konata. You're the best" For the next few minutes, Sojiro ate.

Konata and Yutaka were able to finish the dishes before he even got the food out of the microwave so they simply watched him.

It was obvious he was unnerved by this, not that he said anything. He remained silence, though it could be inferred from his actions. He would sometimes stop right in the middle of eating to glance at the two of them staring at him - his hand would still be raised, en-route to his mouth. He would then continue on and act like he never stopped in the first place - as if he were just a paused video that was unpaused. Also, he chewed slowly; thoughtfully; uncomfortably. It took a painstakingly long time for him to finish.

Afterwards, he said thanks for the meal and began washing the lunch box. The two waited at the living room for him to finish. When the sound of water stopped, Sojiro entered the room and sat opposite the two girls on the table.

"Dad..." Konata began in a low voice. She was leaning forward, elbows on the table, and hands interlocked in front of her mouth. She was like an mad genius plotting a evil scheme. The looked worked surprisingly well on her. "Dad, do you understand why I'm posing like Gendo Ikari...?" She asked.

Sojiro smiled nervously. "Um... Because you want me to go in the damn robot?" He said in the hope that she was in the mood for anime jokes.

Konata blinked and thought for a while on how to react. She chose to ignore what he just said. "Dad, why didn't you tell us about your work?" She asked flatly.

The man swallowed. "Well...uh..." Fear was in his eyes, and Konata could see it. "You never asked..." He answered unconvincingly.

The bluenette leaned back and crossed her arms, nodding slowly with a face pure skepticism. "Uh huh..." _Who the hell did you think you were fooling, dad?_

Sojiro shrunk at the sight. "I was embarrassing, okay." He said, finally giving in. "To go from writing light novels to reading them with people who have a lot of money and not a lot of social skills... Just..." He trailed off, not really completing his sentence, but it wasn't hard to guess what he was saying.

"It's fine, dad. I'm just glad that you have a job that didn't involve smuggling or something." She said, relaxing into the sofa. "Still, I'm surprised they hired you for that rent-a-man thing. Then again a lot of people are in to that sort of stuff"

"I actually got the idea from you." Sojiro said helpfully. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. You must have been really worried about me"

"Really now?" Konata sighed. "Look, dad. I haven't really forgiven you for that. Not yet." She said bluntly. "Its gonna take a long time before I'm ready to forgive you for putting me through all that. But I'll get there"

"Thank's Konata."

"No c'mon... I need a hug." She said, standing up arms raised in anticipation for an embrace that she received soon after. "Yu-chan, get in here too" She said a moment later.

"Okay."

The three hugged quietly before heading to bed.

**LUCKY STAR**

Tsukasa stood in front of her sister's doorway, contemplating on what to do. The older twin had immediately entered the room the moment she got home and hadn't left since. She didn't react to any knocks on her door nor their mother calling when dinner started. Everyone was worried for her, Tsukasa most especially.

She knocked lightly on the door, clinging to the hope that it'd unlock and slide open. "Sis, are you awake...?" She said meekly. "We already had dinner, if you want to eat, there are left overs in the fridge..." No response. The younger twin gave a slow nodded and a low whimper. "Good night, Kagami..." She said quietly before turning around and entering her own room.

As she changed into her pajamas, she couldn't help but wonder what her sister was thinking. She could understand what she was feeling - the negativity radiating from her door was enough to get a clear picture. Tuskasa's question was WHY...

Why was Kagami so sad? and angry? and all those other emotions oozing through the cracks of her door? Why was it that nothing that Tsukasa said had any effect. Why why why.

She didn't find the answer no matter how hard she tried. Shelving the dilemma for the night, Tsukasa lied down on her bed, hoping the answer comes to her in her sleep. Within moments she drifted off into unconsiousness

**LUCKY STAR**

Miyuki stood by the doorway to the living room. It was a large heavy-wood double-door with stainless steel door knobs and a reinforced door frame. It was pretty sturdy - probably would be able to withstand even a shot gun blast to the hinges. It would definitely protect whoever was inside from any intruders should they ever come. Unfortunately, they don't protect very well from eavesdroppers. Miyuki had been standing there, listening for at least half an hour at that point and no one has noticed.

"So, what do you think of my proposition?" Miyuki heard Honoka ask. "Would it be acceptable?"

"Well, I'm not against it. What about you, Shintaro?"

"I'm fine with it as well. I'll accept you no matter what. I'm just glad you accept us."

Miyuki heard Honoka chuckle. "I'll always accept you. We're all family here, aren't we?"

Miyuki closed her eyes solemnly and afforded herself a small smile. This is a surprising development. She thought. Surprising, but pleasant. I can't wait to tell Minami the good news. She sighed before walking away from the door and returning to her room.

**LUCKY STAR**

[Hello, Ayano?]

[What do you want, Kusakabe?]

[Akira? What the hell are you doing with Ayano's phone?]

[I'm holding it for safe keeping. We're in the hospital right now]

[What!? Seriously!?]

[Yes, now keep it down. You really hurt my ear with that one.]

[Sorry... What happened to Ayano?]

[This morning she fell down the stairs and hit her head. A few hours later, we woke up and found her sprawled on the floor, unconscious. We rushed her to the hospital.]

[So that's why no one was answering the home phone when we called earlier. Wait, if you have her cell, why didn't you answer when we called it?]

[It was in silent mode. She didn't even set it to vibrate. I only realized you were calling just now because it was on the table and it suddenly lit up.]

[How is she?]

[She's doing fine. She woke up just fine a few hours ago but the doctor advised at least a day of rest and a few more tests before she's allowed to leave]

[That sucks...]

[Yeah. Tell me about it. Anyway, I don't want to wake Ayano up so let's wrap this up. She needs her rest.]

[Gotcha'. Tell her I said "Hi". Good night.]

[Yeah. Night]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter marks the end of A Festival of Bottled Hearts part 2. If you need a break, this is a good stopping point.


	12. Before the play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter marks the beginning of part 3, the final part of A Festival of Broken Hearts

**LUCKY STAR**

In the empty classroom, Kagami sat hunched over the table, propping her head with her right arm, and watched the festival take place outside the window. The sounds of activity were muffled yet were still heard. The aroma of street food was faint but still smelled. The students and visitors enjoying themselves were distant but still seen. By all means, it was the school festival, and yet no matter how hard Kagami tried, she just couldn't feel it. It wasn't a festival, it was a farce. No matter how genuine everything was, to her, it was just a facade made by naive try-hard students to convince her that it was worth wasting her time and effort to even TRY and participate in the so-called festival.

 _Why am I thinking like this._ Kagami thought. _How was I supposed to know my class would make all my work useless? Those people outside have nothing to do with it. It isn't their fault._ She tilted left and leaned her head on the window's glass, clenching her fists. _It's not their fault. It's my classmate's fault. It's my fault. It's not their fault, it's ours... But why am I so angry at them?_ She slid her head downward and rested her head on the windowsill, covering her face by pulling at her bangs. _What's done is done! I can't change it! Why can't I just let it go!?_

Kagami didn't know how long she stayed that way, but she was eventually snapped out of it by the sound of the classroom door opening. Light yet surprisingly powerful footsteps followed, stopping just short of her table. She knew exactly whose footsteps they were. She knew and was pleasantly surprised to know that she knew.

She sat up and turned towards her visitor. "What do you want, Misao?" She winced internally. She didn't mean to say it as coldly as she did.

The brunette raised her hands and took a step back. "Just checking on ya. You don't need to be so harsh." She said delicately.

"Sorry... It sorta just slipped out..." The tsundere sighed and returned to looking out the window. "Well, what is it?" She asked quietly.

Kagami heard Misao jump up and sit on one of the tables. "Well, you've been staying locked up in here all week. It's already Friday. Today's the last day of the festival." She stated. "Don't you think you should at least see your sister's play?"

The pony tailed girl didn't respond. She didn't know how. There was no rational reason for feeling this angry and yet she was. She knew that while she was as irritable as she was, everyone would avoid her. So she stayed in the classroom. Just because she wasn't enjoying the festival didn't mean that others shouldn't enjoy as well. She would have abstained from going to the festival outright if it weren't for Tsukasa.

 _That's right... I only went because of Tsukasa..._ She turned and faced Misao who was looking at her with a sad but hopeful smile. Kagami couldn't help but smile as well. _It IS for Tsukasa, so..._ "Sure... I'll go..."

"Great. They should be starting in fifteen minutes." The brunette jumped off the table and held out her hand. "Let's go"

**LUCKY STAR**

"You'll be surprised by what will happen to you in a few minutes. Trust me, you won't expect it. You might not like it, though..."

Class 1-D had been crowded by a fair number of students all week because a certain fortune teller had a knack for accurately predicting any customer's immediate future. Around eighty students have tried already and there was yet to be anyone who was disappointed.

"Why won't I like it?" The boy asked nervously.

In the dark booth, Yutaka sat opposite the boy, with a glowing glass orb on the table between them. The shadows cast by the crystal ball made her seem more ominous than most four foot fifteen year olds would.

"Well, I said you MIGHT not like it. I'm not really sure."

The curtain that served as the door to Yutaka's booth was then opened, revealing a girl with orange hair and bandages wrapped around her head. "So THIS is where you went, MASARU!"

The boy jumped. "AYANO! H-hi... S-sorry about leaving you. I didn't mean to..." He said shakily. He turned back towards Yutaka and whispered. "Kid, whatever magic you have, it's real. Help me out here."

The red-head giggled. "Sorry. I can only see the future. Not prevent it."

"Now, Masaru, you've had your fun. It's time to go. Hiiragi-san's play is about to start." The girl grabbed him by the collar and began dragging him away.

"Good luck" Yutaka waved cheerfully goodbye.

Minami walked into the booth before turning around to look at the couple causing a commotion outside. "What was that all about?"

Yutaka removed her witch's hat and turned off the glowing ball. "That guy came in here and I sensed that he was hiding from someone. And then, I felt someone enter the classroom who was looking for someone. I put two and two together and foretold his future." She said as she removed the cloak she was wearing.

Minami nodded and closed the curtains. "You should tell me before you decide to change..." She said, blushing. "If I didn't realize what you were doing, people might have seen"

Another giggle came from the red-head. "Don't worry, Minami. I trust you."

As Yutaka undressed, Minami stood guard by the curtains, trying her best not to look back even though it was nothing she hadn't already seen. Yutaka, was similarly embarrassed to be stripping right in front of her girlfriend even though she'd done it for PE countless times before. And neither of them spoke, making the awkward tension even worse.

"S-so..." Yutaka stuttered in an attempt to alleviate tension. "I h-heard from the two earlier th-that Onee-chan and Tsukasa-senpai's play is about to start..."

"Oh? Okay..."

The shorter girl mentally cringed. Neither of them were particularly good at starting and continuing conversations under such tension. Whenever one of them tried, they would just make things even more awkward. Although a thought came to mind upon mentioning Tsukasa. The thought wasn't a pleasant one.

"... I'm worried about Kagami-senpai..."

Minami sighed. "I'm worried too..."

"From what I heard from Onee-chan, she hasn't been eating dinner and every day for the last week, all she's been doing was locking herself in the classroom"

Earlier that week, the two had entered 3-C and lo and behold, she was there, sitting quietly at a desk near the window. Neither of the two first years wanted to disturb her so they simply closed the door and left. It wasn't unlikely that she had been doing that for the ENTIRE week. As for not eating dinner, Konata received that information from Tsukasa. There was not doubt it was true. Unfortunately, it made things all the more troublesome.

"She'll get better." Minami stated as if it were a fact. "She's strong enough to get though it. I'm sure she'll realize it soon enough."

"That's a bit harsh..." Yutaka muttered before smiling. "But I think you're right. I believe in Kagami-senpai. She'll bounce back from this"

Sensing that the shorter girl was finished changing into her uniform, the taller girl turned around. "It's a bit out of topic but I wanted to know since Monday. Why you were wearing a different uniform in the first place? Couldn't you have just worn your regular uniform under your cloak and witch's hat?"

"Onee-chan said it'd look better if I was wearing it. She said it matched this one anime character's outfit perfectly" Yutaka said with a giggle.

The mint haired girl stared for a bit before smiling slightly. "C'mon. Let's go to the auditorium"

**LUCKY STAR**

"Uhhh It just makes me so angry that I wasn't able to do anything!"

"Patty, I know. You've been saying that since Monday."

Hiyori and Patricia walked the halls of the school. Patricia was once again frustratedly complaining about how she wasn't able to do the cheer leading routine she wanted to do for the opening ceremony and Hiyori was doing her best to tune it out (it wasn't working).

"So what if we weren't able to do anything? There's always next year, right?" Hiyori agrued. She had made that argument at least twelve times already and from the looks of it, the response would remain the same.

"But I wanted to do it THIS YEAR!"

 _The very same reply, word for word._ Hiyori sighed. "You can't change the past, Paticia"

"I know, but it doesn't mean I can't complain about it!"

 _And there's strike three._ The raven haired girl removed her glasses and massaged the bridge of her nose. _Doesn't she notice how many time's we've repeated this same exact conversation? Uhhh this is like endless eight all over again._

"Well, we're here." The blond said.

They had arrived at the auditorium and from the sound escaping from the cracks of the door, a band was playing.

"Did we arrive at the correct time?" The glasses girl asked.

"Hey, Tamura, Martin!" From across the hall, a familiar voice rang. The two turned to face Ko Yasaka walking hurriedly towards them.

"Ko-senpai. What's up?" Hiyori asked

"Well, I'd like to say is, our timeslot got pushed back five minutes." Ko gestured to the auditorium doors. "Those girl in there decided to do one last song before ending it. We'll be up in just a few minutes."

"I like the music they're playing." Patricia commented. "It seems so familiar, like I heard it from an anime or something. But I think I'd remember it if that was the case..."

"Well, what are you two waiting for? Let's go in"

**LUCKY STAR**

Miyuki checked inside the auditorium and the place was packed with students and guests alike. _This is a surprising number of people._ She noted. _But I suppose that's a given considering that this is a guest performance by a different school's light music club._

There were five member's on stage. Up front was a short haired brunette with a guitar and a girl with long raven hair on what looked to be a left handed bass. To the left was a blond girl who was the keyboardist, at the back was another short brown haired girl who played the drums, and a twin tailed girl also on guitar. The brunette at the front was singing a rather energetic song about rice.

When the song came to an end, Minoru came up on stage. "And that was the Sakuragoa Highschool Light Music Club Band, Houkago Tea Time. I hope you guys enjoyed that, because I sure did." He chuckled lightly before it was business as usual once more. "We'll have a ten minute intermission before the next performance, which, by the way, is my class's play. Death Should Not Have Taken Thee! written by one of my classmates, Konata Iumi. We'd greatly appreciate it if you decide to watch it." He bowed and then gestured to the projector screen on the wall next to the stage. "Until then, please enjoy this short animation brought to us by the Animation Research Club."

 _I feel very nervous that our play will be following THESE performances..._ Miyuki thought. She stole one final look at the stage before turning around and leaving the auditorium. _We have ten minutes to prepare. Though I doubt any preparation will be worth anything since they're all ad-libing everything anyway..._

**LUCKY STAR**

Backstage, Tsukasa stared at herself in the mirror. The costume looked intricate and the crown could be passed off as an actual crown. She looked cute. Yet somehow she felt like it wasn't enough. She knew her looks weren't enough to carry her performance. Somehow, she got the feeling that she wouldn't be able to make it in terms of acting.

Konata approached her with a reassuring smile. "Tsukasa, relax. Nothing will go wrong." She said in an attempt to cheer her up. "With the way everything's set up, nothing CAN go wrong. Remember what I taught you"

The bluenette turned to the rest of the actors. "The same goes to all of you! Remember my lessons! Make every failure a success! Make the unintended look deliberate!" She pointed into the air in an exaggerated pose. "ADAPT! SURVIVE! YOU ARE PREDATORS! THIS PLAY IS YOUR PREY!" With just a few words, Konata managed to stir the class in to a frenzy. "NOW GO OUT THERE AND KILL IT!" The class cheered, sufficiently energized by Konata's speech.

Tsukasa smiled and thought to herself. _She's right. I'll do great today. I just wish sis will come and see my play. If she did that, I'm sure I'd be happier..._


	13. During the play

**LUCKY STAR**

Hushed whispers carried from one side of the auditorium to another, not quite loud enough to understand clearly, but certainly loud enough to hear. There were a lot of them - it almost made it feel like the room wasn't quiet to the point that soft spoken words could echo. It was like being surrounded by spirits, screaming at you with all their might. You'd feel like you'd go deaf from all the racket yet not a single peep was actually being heard.

That was what Kagami felt as she stood at the very back of the auditorium. She kept her head down and hugged herself tightly. She clutched her shirt with her left hand and massaged the bridge of her nose with her other hand, doing her best not to show her face, lest it betray how she was feeling.

The not quite perfect silence was suffocating in that it was neither loud enough to hide in nor quiet enough to know that no one was there. It made her feel exposed; vulnerable. She didn't like feeling that way and it took all her will power to even remain standing as the play went on. She wasn't even paying attention any more. She just wanted the leave - she wanted to go back outside and blend into the background noise of the anonymous strangers walking the school halls.

Misao was of a similar want to leave the room, but due to a different thought process. As far as she could tell, Kagami wasn't enjoying the play - rather, COULDN'T enjoy it. She could think of a number of reasons why but the most obvious one that came to mind was her feelings of inadequacy. The brunette knew Kagami's anger and shame towards both her classmates AND Kagami herself. There was no doubt the it was shameful, and she had every right to be angry, but there was a striking lack of common sense in Kagami's self destructive thought processes on the matter that Misao found, frankly, tiring.

For a long time now, she had been getting tired of it - all the drama, the overreaction, the constant need for reassurance. This made Misao painfully worried. If and when she gets sick of trying to help Kagami - if and when she decides to give up on her - what then? What'll happen to Kagami? The brunette fears the day it may or may not come, but everyone has a breaking point. That scared her. The mere fact that she even addressed the possibility left her utterly terrified. Would their love last? She had been in love with Kagami for over six years. Would it really just end?

These questions burdened her brain and they were a burden she was unwilling to carry. She refused to believe it was even possible. Even still, the questions remain as she stared at the lavender haired girl on the stage - who had the likeness Kagami, except with short hair and rounder eyes - acting cheery and lighthearted. She longed for a day when the actual Kagami would be that happy as well.

 _You're all I'm ever thinking about these days. I'm getting worried about you, Kagami._ She thought. _I just want you to be happy..._

**LUCKY STAR**

Tsukasa watched the crowd from the corner of her eyes. They looked fairly entertained, which was a great relief to Tsukasa as she continued acting out her role.

The back and forth banter between her and Minoru had always been difficult for her. It seemed the like boy was far more experienced with making witty remarks than she was. The gap in their level of wit felt like a large chasm in between them that she was required to jump. There was no way she could jump it and yet she did, and somehow she kept finding updrafts that blasted her back up when she started falling too low. Right as she forgets her actual line or when Minoru stumps her, she thinks up a line of her own on-the-spot. Her recoveries and retorts normally came out of nowhere and felt childish, yet the audience always found it funny. It felt very confusing to Tsukasa but she was thankful either way.

As Minoru began a long winded explanation on why it was a bad idea to attack the enemy forces head on, Tsukasa began scanning the crowd, making it as obvious as possible that she wasn't listening. Many of those watching got an amused chuckle out of it, though Tsukasa wasn't really paying attention to it.

There, at the very back of the room were two girls standing next to each other, one with a side pony tail, and one with short hair. _Misao and Sis..._

Tsukasa looked away. The audience would look in Kagami's direction if she kept her eyes trained on them. She knew how much that kind of attention made Kagami uncomfortable recently.

 _She looked so... scared... so angry..._ The air head thought to herself. Her brow furrowed. _My feelings can't interfere. I'm doing a play and I'm the lead role. I can't let my worry over Kagami distract me from this._

With a loud snap of fingers, Tsukasa was brought out of her thoughts.

"Hey, were you even listening?" Minoru asked, on hand on his hip and the other resting on the pommel of his fake sword. "We were talking about how it was a bad idea to attack head on. Our forces are too weak and we don't have enough guys with lots of defense to keep enemies off our guys with lots of attack power"

Tsukasa blinked at him. "You lost me at 'bad idea'..." She wasn't acting. She really did lose him at that point.

**LUCKY STAR.**

Konata watched from backstage as Tsukasa and Minoru acted out their roles, hitting the bull's-eye for more than one unplanned joke that brought the audience a surprising amount of amusement.

"They're really pulling out all the stops for this." She commented with a proud smile on her face. "Then again, this isn't practice anymore. Of course they'd give it their all" Her gaze moved to the crowd of watchers in their seats and her smile grew wider. "And it looks like the effort's paying off"

She scanned the crowd, looking for familiar faces.

One particularly easy person to spot was her dad. In the center aisle, near the middle row, was Sojiro, with a tripod set up, recording the play. Konata had asked permission to allow her father to take pictures and videos of the event. It took a lot of effort to convince the school to allow him back after last year's embarrassing sports festival incident. Most of the teachers were worried that the man would weird-out the students and other people with his perverted grin like he did previously. With good reason, Konata was worried as well. Surprisingly, they were all worried for nothing. Sojiro simply knelt there, staring into his camera, focused on capturing the scenes playing out on stage.

_I have to hand it to dad. He's showing a lot of self control today. It almost feels like he's possessed or something_

She continued looking around and, shortly after spotting Sojiro, she found Yutaka and Minami, sitting near the back, at the right most side of the room. She didn't envy their position. While the that particular corner was a good place to be in a classroom, - she could immediately recall over a dozen anime where the protagonist sat there - the said corner wasn't exactly an ideal location at which to watch a play. Still, they seemed entertained enough and that was enough for Konata.

_Awww. They're holding hands without even realizing it._

Further looking brought Hiyori and Patricia to her attention, the two of them standing at the left aisle of the room, near the middle row. In a completely expected turn of events, Hiyori was down on one knee, scribbling furiously at her sketch book with Patricia stealing a look at the drawing every so often. Konata made no comment and simply chuckled.

When her search finally brought her to Kagami and Misao, someone suddenly tapped her shoulder, prompting her to tilt her head back to see who it was.

"Konata-san, that is a disturbing display of neck flexibility..." Miyuki stated, taken slightly aback by the bluenette's head tilt. "Anyway, I'd like to talk to you..."

Konata turned around and faced her normally. "What's up?"

"I'd like to point out that Akira's missing."

The shorter girl stared and blinked. "What?"

Miyuki pushed up her glasses. "Akira Kogami is missing. She isn't back stage and she isn't in the audience." She explained. "I believe we may have to go look for her."

The shorter girl blinked once more. "Okay, this might be a problem if Sebastian finds out..." She muttered thoughtfully. "You know her better than I do. Can't you go look for her?"

"I plan of doing exactly that, just..." The pinkette sighed. "What I'd like to know is if you could offer some assistance. You don't have to come looking for her with me. Maybe just give me some guesses on where to look first?"

"Well, I really only know her from Lucky Channel. I've got no clue about what she's like outside of the show." Konata bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry. I don't think I'm gonna be of any help with that..."

Miyuki sighed once more "I expected as much but I hoped... Well sorry to bother you." She walked away, eyebrows crunched in worry.

"I hope she finds her..." Konata whispered in the silence following Miyuki's departure.

She blinked. _Silence? Isn't there supposed to be a play on going?_

With a glance at the stage, Konata saw the reason for the lack of noise. They were acting out the scene in which Minoru and his fellow knights had to sneak past the dragon guarding the enemy's base. With every step, their armor clinked loudly, causing every one of them to stand perfectly still and cringe. The frustration and anxiety in their faces as they inched past the obstacle was so believable that the audience, and yes even Konata, was watching intently.

Then one of the knights tripped and alerted the dragon. "OH COME ON! WHY NOW!?" With a loud yell from Minoru, the knights ran for the enemy fortress, stealth be damned. Konata giggled. Their acting was top notch, considering they were amateurs.

Deciding that they were doing fine, she returned her attention to the crowd with the intention of finding Kagami and Misao once more. She felt a mass of ice materialize in her chest when she could not find them. She felt the frozen water weigh her down when she looked back at the stage to Tsukasa and she was also worriedly scanning the audience. A sense of dread welled up inside her that she could only explain away as anxiety over Kagami.

What could happen that would cause such an intense reaction? Were the possibilities THAT bad that she'd feel that way? She didn't know the answer, and she doubted if Tsukasa knew either.

_Why do I have a really bad feeling about this...?_

**LUCKY STAR**

Kagami walked the halls of the school, pulling Misao behind her, with classroom 3-C being her destination.

"Kagami, are you sure it's okay that we left in the middle of the play?" Misao asked as she nervously followed the tsundere past the various classrooms and booths set up by the students. "I mean, you'd only have to endure maybe fifteen more minutes in there or something. Couldn't we have stayed?"

Kagami did not reply but merely squeezed Misao's hand even tighter.

Misao sighed. She couldn't really do anything. She couldn't force Kagami to stay and even if the brunette tried, no doubt she'd receive opposition. Kagami was stubborn and Misao knew that. Nothing would convince her if she didn't want to be convinced.

As she was pulled along, Misao suddenly stopped and pulled Kagami backwards. Kagami ended up loosing her grip on Misao's hand because of the sudden tug. The pony tailed girl turned to face her girl friend when she suddenly felt a short person bump into her. Looking down, they saw Akira Kogami glaring up at them.

" _Watch where you're going._ " Akira growled menacingly

Kagami was taken aback but quickly got over it. Her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms. "I could say the same thing to you..." She said coldly.

Misao eyed the two of them nervously. _This is bad. This is very very bad..._ The electricity in the air made her hair stand on end. She feared that the eventual explosion would be more than she could handle. She looked around. Already, people were gathering to watch. _This won't end well. It won't, I just know it..._

"Do you seriously expect people to step to the side and let you walk past them?" Kagami asked harshly.

With a smile and a tilt of her head, Akira replied. " _Well, that's what people normally do, so why not?_ "

The banter was tense. One wrong move and the precious balance between anger and self control would collapse.

The pony tailed girl laughed. "You're four feet tall. You're about as threatening as a primary schooler"

" _What was that?_ " Akira asked in a low whisper

Misao shifted her weight. "Uh... Kagami..." She muttered, tapping the tsundere's shoulder. "Kagami, I don't think this is a good idea..."

"Face it. You're a child in the eyes of everyone who can see." Kagami said bluntly "If anything, it should be YOU who steps aside."

" _You think I don't know!? For years, that's been the only thing people saw me as! A child! Don't you think I haven't gotten tired of it!?_ " Akira yelled. " _But unlike you_ " She pushed Kagami " _I've made a name for myself! I'm not some nobody highschooler with a superiority complex!_ "

"Don't you dare touch me." Kagami growled, letting her arms fall to her side, hands clenched into fists. "And I don't have a superiority complex"

" _Well, you're still a nobody!_ " Akira pushed her again. " _And I can touch you as many times as I want! What are you gonna do about it? You wouldn't hit a 'primary schooler', would you?_ "

Kagami glared at her before chuckling darkly. "But you're not a primary schooler, aren't you?"

"Oh no..." Misao breathed. She tried to intervene at the last minute but it was too late. The violence already began.

**LUCKY STAR**

As Miyuki walked the second year's corridor, she noticed a steady flow of people going up to the third floor. _There aren't any booths in the senior's hallway._ She thought to herself. _Why are they going there?_ Curiosity getting the better of her, the pinkette decided to go upstairs and check. _Oh my..._ The moment she rounded the corner, she saw a circle of people gathered around what seemed to be a fight. The voices from within sounded all too familiar to Miyuki. _Please let me be wrong..._

"Excuse me. Pardon" The pinkette elbowed her way through the crowd, doing her best not to hurt whoever she tried to push past. "I apologize. Please forgive me." After good amount of effort, she finally reached the center and the scene before her was not a pleasant one.

Kagami was on the floor, demanding that she be let go as she tried to claw her way back to her feet. Akira was similarly enraged, growling threats and insuts as she flailed her arms in an attempt to get to Kagami. In between the two was Misao, keeping one knee and arm over Kagami's torso, pinning the tsundere down, and her other arm trying to block Akira from attacking. All of them were visibly hurt. Kagami had bruises on her cheek and forehead and Akira had a bleeding nose. Misao was worse off, with a bleeding lip and several bruises all across her face. Miyuki could only imagine the full extent of the three's injuries.

Miyuki looked around, face tense in anxiety. Everyone else around her had a similarly worried expression. _Why isn't anyone doing something!?_ She wanted to scream. She turned back towards the literal brawl before her and scowled. Pushing her glasses up and forcing her emotions down, she walked up to the three and addressed them coolly.

Just as Kagami managed to get back on her feet, Miyuki asked them, in a voice as clear and sharp as freezing cold mountain water "Just what do you three think you're doing?"

Her impassive gaze was met with a look of shock. Then Kagami and Akira tremblingly stood up and steadily walked backwards away from each other. Akira looked helplessly into Miyuki's eyes, slowly but guiltily turning away to face Kagami. Kagami met her stare with with trembling intensity before looking down at her somewhat bloodied hands in absolute horror. Not moving her gaze, her eyes refocused to Misao kneeling on the floor, looking tired and brutally beat up. Misao kept her head down, breathing heavily, shaking slightly as the effort to keep from collapsing on the spot was slowly becoming too much to bear. Kagami slowly shook her head before she turned towards Miyuki and burst into a sprint.

Miyuki went wide eyed and side stepped, barely dodging the girl running towards her. The rest of the crowd quickly parted as well and let her pass. Then, the pinkette blinked when she heard Misao's voice.

Shakily standing up, the brunette broke into a jog, hoping to catch up to the tsundere. As she started down the stairs, a ragged cry was heard "Kagami!" Misao yelled, voice growing fainter as she ran farther and farther away. "Kagami, come back!" It wasn't long before she was too far to hear over the festival activity.

As the crowd began to thin, Miyuki stayed, staring tensely in the direction they left, face pained with the effort to not to let her emotions get the better of her. Then, she turned to Akira who had fell to her knees, arms hanging limply at her side. Her gaze was still blank.

The pinkette's expression softened. She knelt in front of the Akira and gave her a hug, burying the shorter girl in her bosom. Miyuki felt the girl's tears soak through the fabric of her uniform. Akira wrapped her arms around Miyuki and began sobbing quietly.

"I'm sorry..." Akira whispered. "This was all my fault..."

Miyuki tightened the embrace "Shh... It's fine... everything's alright..."

_I don't know why Kagami and Akira fought. I'm sure both of them have their reasons. I just hope they can still reconcile after this..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically, this is still Konata's play, but this is more about the stuff happening DURING the play than the actual play itself. It felt like tonal dissonance to add something THAT lighthearted when almost everyone was so tense. Of course, I could have always done it anyway, in an attempt to lampshade the said dissonance. The thing is, that was my initial plan. I took a look at my draft of that and I was not happy with it at all. So I scrapped it and did this.


	14. After the Play

**LUCKY STAR**

The curtain had fallen and the applause had ended. The audience had very much enjoyed the performance and had gone home with a lot of good things to say about it. Konata's play had been the one of the last events for that day and would no doubt leave a lasting impression to everyone who watched it.

Tsukasa was happy. She had managed the play her role competently and the audience had enjoyed it. However, she wasn't quite as happy as she could have been. As she changed out of her costume and back into her uniform, the smile she kept on her lips didn't look or feel completely genuine.

 _Where's Kagami? Why'd she leave in the middle of the play?_ The younger twin felt a twinge of abandonment from her sister's disappearance. However, a stronger feeling overshadowed it. _I hope she's okay. I'm really worried about her..._ Tsukasa pouted, twisting her uniform in her hands.

"You know, you're gonna wrinkle that" Tsukasa blinked and looked behind her. Konata stood there, waving at her with a small smile on her face. "So, you gonna wear that or what?"

The lavender haired girl blushed and nodded. "Y-yeah." She began pulling the shirt over her head, having trouble with getting it on, what with her limbs suddenly feeling shaky.

Konata watched the taller girl struggle and couldn't help but chuckle. "Need some help there" She asked, looking away from the amusing scene.

Tsukasa flailed some more in an attempt to get her uniform on but only succeeded in pushing her right arm through the wrong hole in the shirt. With a sigh, she conceded. "Help..." She squeaked.

The bluenette smiled, face flushing slightly. "Alright, stay still"

As the two combined their efforts to right the shirt that was wrongly put on, Tsukasa's mind couldn't help but wander back to Kagami. Thus, when she was finally wearing her shirt correctly, she still had a quite worried yet completely unfocused look on her face.

There was a snap of fingers and Tsukasa was brought out of her stupor by Konata. "Thinking of Kagami?" She asked with a sad smile. Her question was answered with a quiet nod, which was followed up with Konata sighing her agreement. "Yeah, I can't get her out of my mind either."

The approach of two people was brought to Konata and Tsukasa's attention when the sound of footsteps behind them drew near. They turned around and saw Ayano Minegishi walking towards them. Hear head was covered in bandages but she looked otherwise fine. Next to her was a boy whose arm was viciously interlocked with Ayano's. His face had twinges of annoyance, somewhat overshadowed by not-well-hidden fear. Looking closely, he looked a bit like Misao.

"Good afternoon, Aya-chan" "Yo, Minegishi" Tsukasa and Konata greeted.

"Good morning Tsukasa-chan, Izumi-san"

With a curious tilt of her head, Tsukasa looked at the boy whose arm Ayano had caught in a veritable vice grip. "Who's your... friend?" She asked, not quite sure how to address the boy.

"This is Misao's brother, Masaru" Ayano said. "And he's not my friend, he's my boy friend"

Konata perked up when she heard the name. "Masaru...?" Recognition dawned on her face. "Wait, you're that kid who keeps getting in trouble with Yui nee-san!"

Masaru looked at Konata suspiciously. "Yui _nee-san_...? As in, Yui Narumi...? You're related to that cop!" He realized

"Yes, I am." Konata stated angrily. "Do you have any idea how much she gets in trouble because of the scenes you always end up making!? She keeps calling me in the middle of raids about the lectures she keeps getting about how to she needed keep kids like you out of trouble!"

"Hey, chill!" The boy stepped back, hands raised. "None of those incidents were my fault. And I apologized every time too." Was his not quite convincing defense. Then he added in a mutter "Give me a break. I already get scolded enough by Ayano..."

Konata pouted before sighing. He wasn't worth getting all worked up about and it didn't look like getting worked up would make much of a difference. "Uh, whatever. You're an asshole"

Ayano coughed to get everyone's attention. "To get off the topic of who my boyfriend is and why he's an asshole, I'd like to say the play was wonderful." She praised, to which Tsukasa and Konata were grateful for. "It was definitely refreshing to see you act so snide and unapologetic. It was almost like I was watching a whole different person"

Konata giggled. "Of course it wasn't Tsukasa on stage back there!" She exclaimed. "It was the queen on that stage and no one else!"

Tsukasa sweat dropped. "I'm not sure whether or not to take that as a compliment"

Konata clapped Tsukasa on the back. "It's a compliment, alright." She said with a smile. "You portrayed the character's personality as perfect as it could have been"

"Th-thanks..."

The three of them talked about the play (four if you count Marasu's off hand comments). Tsukasa felt extremely happy that they had enjoyed it. And to think, she had been so worried just a few minutes before the performance. Still, something was off. She didn't feel as happy as she could have been and she knew why.

"Kagami" Tsukasa suddenly said.

Ayano stared at her "...Kagami?" she asked in confusion. She crossed her arms and frowned thoughtfully "Come to think of it, where IS Hiiragi-san? I'd have expected her to be right here with us to congratulate you. Has something happened?"

"Ah... well"

The lavender haired girl had no idea how to explain the situation to Ayano. Ayano knew about how their plans for the festival were both literally and figuratively scrapped. But it seemed that she didn't understand what it did to Kagami. It also bothered Tsukasa that Ayano didn't seem to be so affected by the invalidation of their efforts. Although Kagami DID say that Ayano worked just as hard as she did.

 _Maybe it just wasn't a big deal to Ayano..._ Tsukasa realized. _But still, Kagami feeling the way she is..._

Konata noticed that Tsukasa was deep in thought and answered for her. "Kagami and Misao were here earlier but they left before the play ended for some reason." She said. "Kagami's going through a lot"

"I'll say..."

The three girls turned towards Masaru who had wandered off while they were talking. He was sitting cross legged, leaning back on a chair, leafing through a copy of the play's script.

"That Hiiragi girl's a piece of work. Whatever she's been going through, she's been dragging Misao with her." He chuckled darkly as he turned another page. "Ever since Saturday, she's been looking like shit every time she got home"

"Saturday..." Ayano breathed. "You mean..."

"The day you got into your little accident..." Masaru frowned. He didn't need to look away from what he was reading to see the look of realization on Ayano's face. "Something happened while you weren't there. Probably something big..." He glanced at Tsukasa and Konata. "Maybe you should ask your friends for the whole story..."

"I need some air." He got up and began walking to the exit. "Call me when you're done"

"..." None of the three talked as the boy left the room. When he finally closed the door behind him, the silence remained.

A sigh from Konata finally broke the silence. "You might wanna sit down..."

**LUCKY STAR**

After congratulating Konata on a job well done on the play Yutaka and Minami leave the auditorium, intent on enjoying the rest of the festival day.

As they rounded a corner, they bumped into a distressed Minoru, who seemed to have been lost in his phone and ended up walking into Yutaka. Minami was quick to act and steadied the red head with a sturdy hand on her shoulder while pushing Minoru back a step.

Upon realizing who he had collided with, he immediately apologized. "S-sorry!" He said with a bow.

"Shiraishi-san, please watch where you're going. Yutaka might have gotten hurt" The mint haired girl scolded quietly.

"It's alright. I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten hurt." Yutaka reassured him. "Besides, with Minami here, I don't think _anything_ could hurt me"

Minoru smiled warmly. "Right. But I still should have watched where I was going. That was rude. I'll make sure to be more careful next time" His smile slowly faded into a frown and he looked at his phone once more.

"Is something wrong?" Yutaka asked.

The boy looked at her, and then to Minami. They looked genuinely concerned. He forced a smile. "It's nothing. I'm fine"

The red-head frowned. "You're lying..." She walked towards Minoru and grabbed his free hand, clasping her own hands around it. "It's not nothing. Something's worng and we want to help..."

Minoru frowned "It's none of your business..." He said intensely. His expression softened mere moments after. "But it might as well become your business..." He sighed "Sorry. I'm just a little on edge. I brought Akira with me today and she sort of went missing... again..."

Yutaka smiled and squeezed his hand once more. "It's okay. I can tell this Akira person is important to you. We'll help in whatever way we can." She said in an attempt to reassure him. "When did you last see her?"

"Right before the play"

"... Oh"

Yutaka frowned. That was nearly an hour ago. There was so many people on campus that day. It was going to be a big problem finding one particular person in the sea of festival goers that populated the halls.

"I suggest we start at the auditorium and work our way outward from there" Minami said helpfully. "We comb each floor and work our way downward."

Minoru nodded quietly. "Okay, let's head back to the auditorium, then..."

**LUCKY STAR**

The smell of sterilized air assaulted Miyuki's nose. It wasn't an unpleasant smell, but it brought unpleasant thoughts to the pinkette. Memories of terribly frightening appointments to the dentist plagued her mind. Still, she had grown used to the smell. It didn't take much effort to ignore it.

She sat on a bed in the nurse's office. The white lights softly diffused on the creamy white walls, reminding her of a smooth brew of tea and milk. And like milk and tea, the color of the walls had a similar calming effect on Miyuki, which she was quite thankful for.

Akira sat right next to her on the bed, glumly pressing a cold compress on her bruises. The salmon hair girl had tears streaming down her face for a long amount of time before eventually the flow stopped. And yet her face remained neutral, albeit pained. Miyuki knew the stoicism was an act.

 _I get the feeling that she's using me as an emotional crutch..._ Miyuki thought. _I know it's unhealthy to bottle up your emotions since it can lead to stunted emotional growth but I won't lecture her on it. There is a reason she doesn't want to just let it all out..._ The pinkette glanced at the shorter girl and frowned. _I'm not one to pry but I would certainly like to know that reason. I'd like to help her but I can only do that if she lets me..._

Nurse Fuyuki Amahara walked towards the bed, Hikaru Sakuraba following behind. Fuyuki smiled warmly. "How are you doing?" She asked as she laid down two cups of tea on the table next to the bed.

Akira glanced up at the nurse and gave a pained smile. " _Just peachy..._ "

"So this is the girl who got into a fight with Hiiragi?" Sakuraba asked.

Miyuki nodded. "Her name is Akira Kogami. She's a middle school senior."

Sakuraba chuckled. "Well, I'm surprised she survived with just a bunch of bruises. I heard stories about how Hiiragi was able to knock this one guy out with a single punch. She's pretty strong"

Miyuki sweatdropped. _In truth, it doesn't take a lot of strength to knock someone out. Really, it's all in the execution of the punch._ She thought. _And technically, Kagami didn't punch him, but accidentally elbowed the guy at just the right angle to knock him out... Though I don't really think it matters at this point..._

"I'm more surprised that you're not mad at Kagami-san for getting into a fight in the first place"

The teacher shrugged. "Hey, fights happen. At least no one got seriously injured." She sighed. "Besides. Hiiragi's going through a lot, and I'm partly to blame..."

That piqued Miyuki's interest. Glancing around, she saw that it also caught Akira's attention. Looking back to Sakuraba, she forced herself to ask. "If I may, what do you mean you're partly to blame?"

Sakuraba sat down on a nearby chair and sighed once more. "If I recall correctly, Hiiragi went here last Saturday? None of her classmates showed up. It was a big problem. I expected her to be able to resolve it and made it a point to tell her that..." She scowled. "I suppose it was a wrong move to make that comment. I didn't think she'd crack if couldn't live up to my expectations..."

_... I don't think this was the sole cause of Kagami falling off the edge... But it's possible it was the last nudge she needed to tip over..._

Miyuki looked at Sakuraba's face. It was unapologetic. She knew exactly what she had done. Perhaps she disliked what became of her actions but Miyuki could see that she had resolved herself to what she had done. And yet, Miyuki felt strangely offended.

_I may be disrespectful in asking this, but why are you not more affected by this? True, you may not be entirely to blame, but you still had a big part in what Kagami has gone through - and is still going through. The way you're acting makes it seem like you don't care about her._

Sakuraba chuckled quietly. "You're right..."

Miyuki blinked. She did not realize she had said that aloud. While she mentally berated herself for letting her thoughts slip out, she didn't regret speaking out. She was going to say something in that manner anyway. Still, Sakuraba actually agreeing with her statement offended her even more. The pinkette didn't quite understand why she felt so strongly about it but she did.

"So... why? Why aren't you more affected by this?"

"I'm sure you already know my stance on this, but I'll tell you anyway." Sakuraba solemnly closed her eyes and frowned. "What's done is done. You can't change the past so why get worked up about it?" He words were short and sharp. Sharp enough to cause Miyuki to flinch. "You think I don't have regrets? You're wrong. I'm sorry for doing that to Hiiragi - deeply sorry. The problems is: How exactly do you want me to _show_ that I'm sorry?"

The question bit. Miyuki didn't know the answer and that bothered her. It bothered her like she couldn't imagine.

"Do you want me to show her that I pity her? Do you want me to be walking on eggshells around her? You know as well as I do that doing that is the last thing she needs to make a recovery. Hiiragi can only get back on her feet if she believes she can do it." Sakuraba stood and looked Miyuki in the eye. "I believe she can bounce back from this. I know she can. And the way I act about this is how I show her." She said with finality. She turned and began walking away. "I know you care about Hiiragi but maybe you should rethink how you're going about this..."

Miyuki stood there, speechless. What could she say? There were a number of things she had assumed, most of which she really should have put more thought into. That Sakuraba was making light of the situation? That was false. That she didn't care? That was false as well. It was all too shameful for Miyuki to bare.

Miyuki felt a hand touch her fists clenched on her lap. Looking up, she saw Nurse Amahara looking at her with a look of reassurance.

"Don't let it eat you up. Hikaru is blunt and unapologetic by nature but she's got the best of intentions." Amahara smiled. "She tries to help, but she's completely objective with these things. She'll tell you what you need to know, but in the process, she'll hurt you." She stood bowed slightly. "Hikaru didn't mean to make you feel bad. I apologize her behalf."

Miyuki bit her lip. "No, it's alright..." She whispered. "She was right... she was right about a lot of things - things I was too biased to take into account. Don't apologize. I should be the one saying sorry." Miyuki stood and bowed as well.

The two raised their heads and looked at each other. Nurse Amahara smiled and nodded. Miyuki did the same. With that, the nurse left the two alone, leaving one last word in before walking out of earshot.

"Try not to worry so much. Things will work out in the end..."

The words rang in Miyuki's ears. They were, in essence, the same words Miyuki had told Kagami all those months ago. _There's no need to rush..._ She heard her own voice echo in her mind. _Kagami will recover at her own pace. If she can bounce back, she will_. Miyuki thought closing her eyes. _And Miss Hikaru Sakuraba is the one who made me realize that..._

The pinkette sat down, and sighed. She turned to see Akira looking at her curiously. "What?"

"So..." She croaked. "What's the deal with this Hiiragi girl?"

Miyuki looked down and sighed once more. Leaning forward, she picked up one of the tea cups and took a sip. The heat burned her tongue but she chose to ignore it - the calm it brought her more than compensated. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and then exhaled. She looked back at Akira and nodded.

"This won't be the whole story since there are somethings that are better told by Kagami herself, but I'll get you up to speed."

**LUCKY STAR**

"That's... that's very disheartening..." Ayano commented.

It took both Konata and Tsukasa a lot of effort to tell her exactly what was going on. But Ayano was Kagami's friend as well. She deserved to know. And so they told her.

Konata stood and began packing up. "Anyway, we should try to find Kagami. She's off somewhere making things seems so much worse than it actually is and I get the feeling that Misao can't snap her out of it"

Tsukasa nodded in agreement. "I just want to know if sis is safe."

The three made their way out the door and looked around for Masaru. Sure enough, he was nearby, talking with some familiar faces. They approached the group.

"Oi!" Konata called. "Kusakabe! Having a fun little chat?" The said boy turned to face Konata. With him was Yutaka, Minanami, and Minoru. "And as for you guys, are you busy? We've got something we need help with"

"Hi, Onee-chan." Yutaka greeted. "Sorry, but we're sort of helping Minoru look for someone named Akira."

Ayano looked at the shorter girl curiously. "Akira?" Bowed slightly and introduced herself. "I'm Ayano Minegishi. The Akira you're talking about doesn't happen to be-"

Minoru cut her off and answered. "N-no, it's not your sister. It's... well..."

"Don't worry, we know who it is." Konata assured her. "Well, looks like you've got your work cut out for you. We're trying to find Kagami. Did either of you two notice where she went?" After a moment of looking questioningly at each other, they concluded that, no, they haven't seen Kagami. Konata sighed in defeat. "I was hoping you knew. Oh well."

Minami raised her hand and spoke. "May I make a suggestion?" Her voice was not loud but it caught everyone's attention. "Why don't we work together? We can cover a greater area in a shorter amount of time if one group searches one place and the other searches a different place. If we happen to find who the other group is looking for, we can call and tell them."

"Hmm... that's a good idea" Minoru said "You guys willing to work together?"

"Hey, I'm up for it", "Okay", "I agree", and "I don't really have a choice in this" were Konata, Tsukasa, Ayano, and Masaru's answers respectively.

With a mutual agreement, Minoru's group set out to search the area of the auditorium while Konata's group searched the ground floor of the main building.

**LUCKY STAR**

Kagami sat, crouched in an alcove near the cafeteria. The space was originally meant for a vending machine that was never installed. Instead, it held the tsundere, as it did a number of times before. It wasn't the first time she sat there, nor did she feel like it was the last.

It was dark in the place she was sat in. It was dark and cramped. In any other situation, she'd find it uncomfortable at best and claustrophobic at worst. But with the way things were, she welcomed the darkness of the hallway and the smallness of the niche. It was quiet, and comforting, and far from the eyes of those who would judge her.

There, she sat, nursing her wounds. Wounds that she knew she had but didn't feel. She was numb. She was so achingly numb that the bruises were a welcome sensation when she had received them. She was almost disappointed when the pain from the blows eventually dulled.

Leaning on the wall next to her was Misao, quietly humming a tune from an anime Kagami once watched with her. The tsundere took solace in her presence. There was little the brunette could have done to help and yet she still tried. That alone made Kagami happy. The fact that she remained at her side even then made her only happier.

And yet, her joy was far overshadowed by the immense feelings of inadequacy she felt. The weight of her failure pressed down on her, threatening to crush her. The burden she was not able to bear. The shame. She hated it. She hated it all. She hated her classmates for abandoning her; She hated her teacher for putting all responsibility on her; She hated everyone for all the expectations they had of her; and most of all, she hated herself.

 _Why do I think this!? Why do I keep thinking this!? Why must I be so negative!?_ She thought. _Why did I accept these responsibilities!? Why did they have such high expectations of me!? Why did I try to meet them!? Why did I fail!? Why do I even care that I failed!? Why do I blame myself for everything wrong to happen in my life!? Why!? WHY!? WHY!?_

Every question was answered by the very same voice in her head that asked them. Answers lead to more questions, the questions lead to more answers. She couldn't take it. She wanted out. But she couldn't stop. Not now. Not ever. It seemed like she'd spiral out of control until she eventually crashed.

One thing kept her going. It was stupid and cliche, but the fact remained - it kept her going. Something she knew she didsn't deserve. Something she still struggled to accept. Something she never dreamed of having and yet she still had it. It was Misao's love.

It wasn't the passionate, romantic love she sometimes received from the fanged girl. No, it was the warm and soothing love she had always received from Misao. The same love she received from her friends. The love that said "Hey, you're important to me. I care for you. I'll do everything I can be there when you need me". The love that made her feel she belonged.

 _My friends... they all give me that love... all of them... and yet... why does Misao's feel so much stronger...? It's not like they care less about me than Misao does... So... why...?_ The answer took a long time to come but it came eventually. _It's because it's not the same kind of love... It feels the same, but it's different... It's not more and not less than everyone else's... It's because it's her's._

Kagami closed her eyes. She could no longer cry but she dearly wished that she could. As she hugged her legs, a smile formed on her lips. It wasn't happy, but it wasn't sad either. It was a smile of acceptance.

_I have responsibilities. I have things that are expected of me. And failure is a possibility. It will happen whether I want it to or not. But I know Misao will be there. I know everyone will be there. They won't judge me when I fall. They'll be right there to help me get back up. And I think I'm finally ready to try..._

As she stood up, uncertainty remained looming over her head. She knew this wouldn't be the last time she'd lose her grip. She felt guilty for putting everyone through so much. So very guilty. And she knew she'd end up dragging them through the same thing all over again.

 _What's past is past... I can't change it. I've finally let it go - or at least I think I did. But the future... I know I'll just be a burden to them again..._ She frowned. _I don't want to be alone but I keep isolating myself. And as much as I try to stand on my own, I can never do it... I don't want to be alone but I might end up alone anyway. These attacks... They're tearing me apart... they're putting a strain to my friendships... I don't want this anymore... But they're still with me, at least for now... For that, I'm grateful..._

She walked forward, leaving the recess she had been hiding in. She looked back and smiled at Misao. "I think I feel a bit better now..." She whispered. "Not good... but better"

Misao stared at her wide eyed. She twitched. Slowly, her mouth formed a smile. Kagami saw the mix of emotions on Misao's face as she mouthed words that made no sounds. Slowly but surely, tears began trickling down her cheeks.

"I've missed that smile so much..." Misao croaked. She jumped forward and gave her girlfriend the tightest hug she had ever given her. "Kagami! I'm so sorry!"

"M-Misao..." The tsundere stuttered the name in confusion. She chuckled quietly "Why are you apologizing...?"

"I...I tried to help... I swear I did... I just... I didn't try hard enough... and... and..."

Kagami returned the embrace, pushing Misao's head into her shoulder. Her face was wet and the tears soaked into her clothes. It was warm. It was so warm. "Shhh... It's okay" Kagami whispered. "I'm sorry too... I wish I never put you through so much..."

"Kagami... I love you... I love you so much... just... Kagami..."

"Shhhh... It's okay... _I'm_ okay... at least for now" Kagami closed her eyes only to feel her cheeks dampen. Her touched her fingers to her face, realizing that she was crying too. A soft chuckle escaped her as she tightened the embrace. "I love you too..."

**LUCKY STAR**

Konata pushed the nurse's office door open, feeling very much sure that they'd find _someone_ there. Sure enough, a person they were looking for was there. They walked inside the office and looked around. It didn't take long for them to find Akira and Miyuki, sitting on a bed, looking somber.

"Ey, Miyuki, Kogami. Just the people we we're hoping to find" Konata said as she walked towards them "Well, not exactly who we're looking for, but you're on the list"

"Oh... Konata-san. Hello" "Hey..." Their response was subdued.

Konata raised her eyebrows at their reply. It wasn't said in a tone she expected to hear. It was worrying. Looking back to Tsukasa, she had a similar look of mild worry on her face as well. Another worrying thing was Akira's face. It was covered with cuts and bruises.

_Did she get in a fight?_

She decided to ask and find out. "So... what happened to you?" She addressed the salmon haired girl. "That gash on your cheek looks bad. I don't think you got those injuries from falling down the stairs..."

Akira narrowed her eyes at Konata before looking away. "If you must know, your little tsundere friend attacked me." She said in mock innocence.

"Really now?" The bluenette deadpanned.

She was skeptical at best. To be sure, she glanced at Miyuki, hoping the bespectacled beauty could confirm or deny the statement. To Konata's displeasure, Miyuki winced and looked away, refusing to make eye contact. That was all the confirmation Konata needed.

She sighed. "Well... I can't say I'm not surprised. Kagami _can_ get violent sometimes..."

Then Tsukasa suddenly walked towards Akira and spoke to her, startling everyone. "Kogami-chan... please... what's the whole story...?"

Konata stared at Tsukasa for a few seconds before moving her gaze to everyone else. Ayano had her hand covering her mouth, possible in shock at Tsukasa asserting herself; Masaru looked on with mild disinterest; and Miyuki still sat, clenching her hands on her lap, face in a slight grimace. As for Akira herself... She didn't seem to be able to meet Tsukasa's eyes. The guilt was obvious. She wasn't telling the truth - and if she was, it wasn't all of it.

Konata shook her head to clear her head. As Akira gave in and let Miyuki tell the story, Konata excused herself from the group. _There's time to listen in to the story later. We promised to call the others if we found Akira - and we did find her._ She pulled out her phone and began dialing Yutaka's number.

**LUCKY STAR**

Yutaka and company had traversed most of the area in and around the auditorium. There was nothing of interest to them there so they crossed out that area from their search list. Having finished searching one location, they moved to search the next one, which was the second floor of the main school building.

As the three made their way to their destination, Yutaka attempted to make small talk.

"So this Akira person. What's your relationship with her?" Yutaka asked Minoru.

"Well...I... I'm her manager..."

"...O-okay...?"

Yutaka could tell that there was something more to it than that. She knew it wasn't right to pry, but she was so curious. It didn't help that Minami didn't approve of prying either. With a glace at the mint haired girl, Yutaka saw Minami shake her head slightly, as if dissuading her from continuing her friendly prodding.

Of course, the taller girl's efforts were in vain as Minoru ended up talking about it anyway.

"Well... manager in title... We're actually a whole lot closer than most people realize..." He said

"What do you mean?" Yutaka asked

"Akira... she... I... We met maybe three years ago" He began. "She was a lot like she is now, though maybe not quite as... I don't know... aggressive? abrasive? Something along those lines. She was a lot less honest with her feelings."

Yutaka couldn't help but smile. She met several people who weren't honest with their feelings - Kagami herself was one of those people. She knew they were difficult to be around with, but it was a wonderful thing to know that Minoru has stuck with Akira for three years.

"I don't remember the details, but it was during an interview with the radio station I work at that we met." Minoru chuckled. "Back then, she was always smiles and sunshine. You have no idea how much she hated acting like that."

"Why did she change?"

"I don't know. We just stayed with each other for a few months and before I knew it, she was always acting rude and snarky." Minoru chuckled. "If I'll be honest, I prefer her that way."

"She must be really important to you..."

"She's like the little sister I never had."

With an unbelievable amount of good timing, right as the two finished their conversation, Yutaka's phone rang. Surprised at the sudden noise, the red head fumbled with flipping the phone open and looking at who had messaged her. Much to her delight, it was Konata, who had news of Akira's whereabouts.

"It's onee-chan. They've found Akira." Yutaka chimed. "She's at the nurse's office" Upon realizing where the girl was, Yutaka's smile faded. "Oh dear, she's at the nurse's office..."

**LUCKY STAR**

_Kagami... she must be hurt too..._

As Tsukasa and company walked the third floor halls of the school, in search for Kagami once more, the younger twin was distraught by the recent findings on what exactly was going in with Kagami. To think that the older twin had gotten into a fight. As violent as Kagami tended to get, she never outright tried to injure someone like she did with Akira.

 _And how would it affect her? The fact that she did something like that... How would she react upon realizing it? Will she feel all the more shameful? Will she take pride in it? Will she ignore it?_ As those questions swirled in the messy soup of thoughts in that head of lavender hair, a voice was whispering to her. It didn't sound like hers, yet she knew it came her. _Maybe all of this isn't a big deal? Maybe I'm just over thinking things? Why should I even care?_

Tsukasa closed her eyes tightly and exhaled. She emptied her lungs as much as she could, and then took in a deep breath. She held it in for a few seconds before releasing it all slowly. _Calm down..._ She told herself.

As Tsukasa relaxed, she opened her eyes only to realize she was in front of the group. While she was in her daze, Konata was guiding her, pushing her left or right when needed, keeping her from just walking aimlessly. Tsukasa smiled and began walking on her own.

"Thanks, Kona-chan..."

Konata quickened her pace so that she and Tsukasa were walking side by side. The shorter girl looked up at her side and smiled as well. "What are friends for?"

"Ladies, give me your attention, maybe?" The three heard Masaru behind them. The turned to face him. A few paces behind the three girls, the boy stood, looking out the window. "I think our missing person just left the school..." He said boredly

The three rushed for the windows. Sure enough, the saw Kagami and Misao exiting the gate.

"They're probably heading for the station. C'mon" Konata said as she grabbed hold of Tsukasa's hand and ran towards the stairs. Ayano clenched onto Masaru's wrist and followed, dragging the boy behind her by the arm.

**LUCKY STAR**

"Well, I hate that you got those bruises but you certainly deserved them"

The nurse's office was particularly crowded when Minoru and company arrived at the scene. As he inspected Akira's injuries, Miyuki explained to him what happened. Yutaka and Minami excused themselves, shortly after the story finished. Akira sat there and just scowled at Minoru.

"You make it sound like I'm the one who caused it" Akira said in mock innocence. " _Besides, the bitch was asking for it._ "

"Yes, you _did_ start it." Minoru grumbled, flicking Akira's forehead. "And that's beside the point. You're lucky none of the teachers saw you. You'd have been in big trouble if you did."

" _Yeah yeah._ "

"So why did you do it, anyway?" Minoru asked. "I know you have a bad temper but you never get that violent… at least not with others…"

" _I was provoked…_ " Akira muttered, looking away. She didn't expound.

"Whatever. I'm just glad you're okay." Minoru smiled. Akira smiled back

Miyuki stood and bit farewell. "I suppose I'll leave you two for now. Goodbye for today."

Minoru stood and held out his hand "Thanks Takara-san. You've been a great help. See you."

"Anything for a friend." Miyuki grasped the hand and they shook. "See you"

When Miyuki finally left the room, Minoru turned to see Akira glaring at him. "What's wrong?"

" _I don't like her…_ "

"You jealous or something?"

With a blush, Akira looked away. " _No…_ "

Minoru chuckled. "Just keep telling yourself that"

**LUCKY STAR**

Misao held Kagami's hand as they waited. Around them was a calm aura of silence – very odd considering they were at a train station. This could be directly tied to the fact that, odder still, the station was empty.

When they had arrived, little could be said between them. Sure, Kagami was definitely more positive – no amount of words could describe how happy and relieved Misao was by that fact – but, as she had stated before, she wasn't back on her feet yet. The pony tailed girl was still radiating waves upon waves of hate and frustration but they were slowly subsiding. That was enough for Misao.

So they sat, enjoying the quiet. Misao was doing her best not to fidget in her seat – she didn't want to ruin the moment, but her body was pleading, nigh, demanding that she do some laps around the platform; or push ups; or jumping jacks; or something! Something physical. Something to burn off some of the energy she still had left.

The body was ready, but the mind was unwilling. Misao was, believe it or not, exhausted. Not physically – it'd take a lot for her to get physically tired. Just ask the track team. No, she was emotionally drained – sucked dry by five entire days of putting up with Kagami's brooding.

 _'Putting up' feels a bit harsh. It makes it feel like I don't want to be with her, and that's the opposite of what I want. I want to cuddle up to her and say it would be all right. I want her to be happy..._ Misao bit her lip. _My problem is that nothing I say will make a difference. I try to calm her down when she's having one of those attacks but somehow it ends up becoming worse. It never used to do that…_ Misao bit harder. _I was so proud of myself before. Being able to snap Kagami out of it, being able to stop it before it even started. I was so stupid. I knew it'd come back eventually but I got used to it. It was all daily routine back then. But when it did come back, it was something new, something worse, something I couldn't stop. In the end, it was Kagami herself who ended up stopping it, and even then, it took her an entire week._ Blood started dripping from her mouth where her fang had pierced her skin.

Much the her surprise, her hand felt a tight squeeze before it was pulled to her side – towards Kagami. The lavender haired girl then leaned in and planted her lips onto Misao. To even more surprise, Kagami pushed her tongue in through the gap in her lips, probing the inside of her mouth before exiting slightly and sliding over the lips themselves. The brunette's heart skipped a beat as she relaxed and gave Kagami full control.

Whatever confusion Misao had over Kagami's actions were made clear when she felt the tsundere's tongue linger over the bite wound on her lower lip. The pony tailed girl pulled away and immediately brought out a handkerchief, rubbing Misao's lip and dirtying it with blood.

"You were spacing out." Kagami explained in her all too tired fashion. "You ended up biting through your lip…"

Misao chuckled. apologetically. "Heh. Sorry about that…"

"How could you bite a hole into your mouth and still not notice." Kagami said with a pout as she pocketed her handkerchief once more. The bleeding had stopped, thankfully.

"This isn't the first time this happened so I'm pretty much used to it…"

"I don't want you hurting yourself, Misao…" Kagami said, in barely a whisper. "I don't want _anyone_ to be hurting themselves. I do it all the time and I know how bad it is… I don't want anyone to feel the way I do…"

"Kagami…"

Tears didn't fall. They couldn't. Neither Misao nor Kagami had the energy left in them to cry. But they still felt the need – the intense reactionary impulse – to cry.

"Kagami… I can't stop… I can't stop until you stop…" Misao said. "I know you're on your way to getting better… but tell me the truth. Can you guarantee that you won't fall back down again…? No you can't. You'll end up hurting yourself again… and you'll end up shoving me away again…"

"Misao…"

"I want to help you, Kagami. That was all I wanted. I wanted you happy. I wanted you to smile. But whatever I tried, I couldn't get you to do that. I felt so useless." Misao stood and walked towards one of the support pillars and punched it as hard as she could. The wall didn't budge but there was definitely a red smudge on the wall. She must have scratched her knuckles. Yet Misao took no notice of the additional injury she sustained. She was too frustrated. "I can only help you if you let me… why didn't you let me… why didn't you want to get better… I don't understand!"

"Misao… I… I don't know what to say…" Kagami's voice was small. Barely audible.

"It's because she isn't you."

A new voice echoed through the empty station. Footsteps of at least four people soon followed. Kagami and Misao turned towards the stairs where the voice originated from. Masaru was slowly making her way down, with Ayano, Konata, and Tsukasa following behind.

"She isn't someone that gets back even though they have an injured leg. She isn't someone who could just take whatever life throws at her and throw it back. She isn't like you."

"Masaru…" Misao growled

"Your problem is that you won't give up. You won't let things play out they way they normally would. You want everything to match your pace. Well it won't and it never will."

"… Shut up!" Misao yelled

"Masaru, please…" Ayano pleaded.

"Get it through your thick skull: She's not gonna bounce back just because you tell her to."

"SHUT UP!" Misao charged the boy right as he took his last step from the stairs

Konata was quick as lightning, darting from behind Masaru and jabbing Misao right in the solar plexus. The brunette collapsed onto the floor right in front of Masaru, mere seconds before she could tackle him down the stairs. Konata then twisted her arm and pinned her down. Misao struggled for a few seconds before settling down.

"That was too much, Masaru…" Ayano said. "You didn't have to antagonize her!"

"It was what she needed to hear and no one wanted tell her." He said dryly. He knelt down and looked at his sister. "Life doesn't always work the way you want."

Ayano kicked the boy's side. "Masaru, you… you…" She kicked him again. "Why do you do this to her!? She's your sister!" She kicked him again. And again. And again. Kagami and Tsukasa pulled her back. She thrashed around with all her might. "Let me go! Let me go!"

"Stop this. All of you…" Kagami said, voice quiet yet sharp, tightening her grip on Ayano. "Stop this… I'm sorry… all of you, I'm sorry… I was the cause of this… I never wanted this… I'm sorry…"

"… And he's right…" Misao muttered, still pinned down by Konata. Misao relaxed into Konata's hold and Konata let go. "… Damn it, he's right…" Misao sat up.

"Yes… I am…" Masaru wheezed as he tried to get up. He clutched his side and looked in annoyance at Ayano. "Coulda kicked me with a little less force, you know?" Ayano glared at him. "Oh don't give me that look. I'll accept that the first one was justified but I did not deserve the four other kicks you gave me." He addressed the twins "Ladies, please let go of my girlfriend."

Hesitantly, the two Hiiragis let go of Ayano. Immediately, the girl walked forward and slapped Masaru.

"Okay, uncalled for." The boy put rubbed his cheek and frowned at Ayano. "You done?"

"Yes. I think I've calmed down now…"

"Alright. Let's chill out and talk about this, okay?"

**LUCKY STAR**

After receiving a call from Konata, they learned that the bluenette and company had found Kagami. In a nutshell, they learn Konata and company had gotten into an argument with Kagami and Misao, or at least that's how Konata had described it – Yutaka knew she was lying but didn't comment on it. It took a bit of time, and a lot of going in circles, but eventually they agreed to shelf the matter until they were more mentally and emotionally prepared.

"At least they found her." Yutaka said in relief. Minami nodded in agreement.

The two had stayed at the school for at least an hour longer. They had pretty much done all there was to do at the festival over the course of the week so they had spent most of that time wandering. Feeling that they had nothing left to do, they decided to leave.

On their way to the station, the road was relatively silent. The sporadic honking of cars in the distance and the constant drone of engines inherent to the city could still be heard, but the walk was otherwise calm.

"Yutaka… Would you like to go to my house tomorrow?" Minami asked meekly.

The red head felt the tightening of Minami's hand around her own. "Is something wrong, Minami?"

She shook her head. "Yukari-san would like to talk to you." She said "Don't worry. It won't be like that last time you were there…"

"It's okay, Minami, I trust you…"

The mint haired girl nodded, a small smile on her face. "I trust you as well"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kagami's section was finished on a particularly bad day for me in real life. I suppose it was a good thing as I feel it has the impact I wanted it to have which it would otherwise not have if I wrote it on a good day.
> 
> Yutaka and Minami's sections have become a particularly difficult thing for me to write, mostly because of Yutaka. I am not sure how I'm supposed to go about developing her since much of her plot and development was caused by the adults in the story.
> 
> That last part with the fight with Masaru was a disaster. I am not at all happy with how it went. Hopefully I'll be able to redeem it with the arc it set up.
> 
> Minoru's section was the the part I last wrote. I literally gave up and just typed down the events as they happened. 
> 
> As for the rest, I wrote it while listening to "Courage to tell a lie" on repeat for several hours.


	15. Well now what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terrible chapter title to end the arc on, I know. I didn't know what to name it.

**LUCKY STAR**

The sun was partially hidden by clouds that Saturday morning. Said clouds left large shadows traveling parallel to the streets, contrasting greatly to the patches illuminated by the rays of light. As Yutaka arrived at her destination, one such shadow was cast over it. The darkness over the Iwasaki estate did not sit well with her – her already apparent apprehension was further worsened. Still, she trusted Minami. Whatever she had to face in there, she knew she wouldn't be alone. Thus, she walked forward, from the side walk towards the front door, stepping past the boundary of sun and shadow.

Her knock on the door was met with silence. Not the calm quiet she was used to but a tense one – perhaps caused by her current emotional state. Thankfully, she stood in silence for only a moment as the door was soon opened by none other than Minami Iwasaki.

The red head smiled. Her dashing prince stood before her, welcoming her to the castle. She giggled. Weirdly enough, that image wasn't hard to imagine. She could almost see the golden circlet on Minami's head as she offered her hand in welcome. The thought brought pleasant feelings.

Minami stared curiously. "What is funny?"

"Well… I don't know… It feels as if you're a prince welcoming his princess to his castle."

Minami smiled as well. "Perhaps I am. The similarities are certainly there." She gestured for Yutaka to enter. "A good morning to you, Yutaka."

"Good morning, Minami" Yutaka chimed.

Whatever nervous tension she felt had flowed away by the mere exchange of words with her most loved. Few things made her feel happier than knowing that Minami was there for her. And in that moment they exchanged those good mornings, she knew that Minami was very much _there_. Whatever she had to face inside the house, she wasn't alone. Thus, she walked forward, past the threshold, into the fray she feels she must fight.

**LUCKY STAR**

The Hiiragi household was experiencing its usual Saturday quiet calm. At that time, Matsuri was still at college, probably sleeping in class; Inori was helping Tadao tend to the shrine – they'd probably be working until lunch; and Miki was cooking their meal, set to finish not long after noon. Kagami and Tsukasa were in the living room, working on their homework, enjoying the silence that the household was in.

"So, does your wrist still hurt?" Kagami asked

The question threw Tsukasa off. She was in the middle of solving a particularly convoluted trigonometry problem when she heard her sister's voice. The problem was shoved aside by the question she only heard but didn't understand and the question was shoved back by the problem whose solution she had just about figured out but was now suddenly a jumbled mess. The confusion led to Tsukasa looking at her twin with a blank stare before smiling.

"Eh?"

Kagami looked between her sister and her sister's homework and most likely deduced that she had broken her sister's concentration. She sighed and apologized. "Sorry about that. Your wrist. Does it still hurt?"

Tsukasa blinked and looked at her right hand. She began moving it slowly, doing steady turning motions. The pain wasn't as apparent as it was last week. And, taking into consideration that she was able to act in the play yesterday with out any problems, she was well on the way to recovery. Granted, she was mostly just doing large arm gestures because the audience would be able to see small movements, but still.

"It hurts, but not as much as it did last Saturday."

Kagami nodded and returned to her work.

Tsukasa frowned. For the longest time, Kagami had been acting very closed off. She wasn't eating as much, even when it was food that she liked. She didn't watch game shows with the rest of the family after dinner anymore. She was even having trouble getting to sleep – Tsukasa would wake up in the middle of the night and could hear her sister pacing the floor in the neighboring room. Even worse, she had little to no energy. Getting up in the morning seemed like the hardest thing in the world for her – her attempts to sit up on her bed lead to her falling off it, and her attempts to stand up were met with a lot of stumbling back down, all of which done in a very sluggish manner. And in the previous week, all of that had gotten even worse

 _I'm worried about sis…_ Tsukasa thought as she turned back to her homework. _I've been worried for weeks now. I wish I could do something…_

Tsukasa could not concentrate on her work. She had to get away from Kagami for a bit. The waves of negativity that the pony tailed girl was radiating were starting to affect Tsukasa. She didn't blame her sister. Tsukasa knew that Kagami couldn't help but feel what she felt. So she simply stood and excused herself, leaving the room and entering the kitchen.

"Good morning, Tsukasa" Miki greeted over the hissing of the chicken stir-fry she was cooking.

"Morning, mom" Tsukasa replies, sitting at the table.

They stayed in relative silence until Miki finished cooking. Tsukasa simply watched. The two had recently begun doing this – working quietly while the other watched – and both mother and daughter found that it was pleasant to be in each other's company while they did so. Tsukasa most especially, as, other than the times when Miki taught her the basics of cooking all those years ago, she had not had that much time alone with her mother.

Miki had a certain skill at cooking, visible from the grace in which she prepared their meal. Even a simple stir fry looked elegant as she made it. Tsukasa was pretty sure she had inherited those skills as she herself was similarly good at cooking. She wasn't at her mother's level quite yet, though. Despite her own experience at the culinary arts, Miki was still just a little bit better. Tsukasa felt that she'd only become as skilled as Miki after a few years more of practicing.

The food was prepared and Miki transferred it onto the plate, placing said plate on the table and covering it. Lunch was ready. All that was needed now was for the other members of the Hiiragi family to arrive.

Miki sat at the table, next to Tsukasa. "So, Tsukasa, what's bothering you?" She asked with a reassuring smile. "Is it anything I can help with?"

Tsukasa thought for a bit. She had been struggling with Kagami for quite some time now, and Kagami had been struggling with herself for quite a lot longer. Taking it on by themselves was clearly not working out well. Maybe some outside help was just what they needed. Of course there's also the problem of Kagami's unwillingness to accept help. It took her nearly two months to accept her own girlfriend's love. Sure, Miki was her mother, but parental interference could be seen just as bad as the problem itself.

Tsukasa sighed and answered honestly. "I don't know…"

Miki nodded slowly. "I don't know if I can help her either…" She said wistfully

The daughter blinked. Miki had figured out what was bothering her. It was to be expected, though. She _was_ their mother. "Nothing get's past you, does it, mom?"

"I try to be observant." Miki smiled sadly. "To tell you the truth, I think only a professional can help her. A therapist." She sighed "I'm just afraid of what they might do to her. I'm willing to let them do their job, but if it involves making Kagami take drugs, I'd rather we work on this on our own"

The thought of putting her sister on mood suppressing drugs made Tsukasa's stomach churn. She could admit that Kagami's mood swings were severe, but chemically changing her mood to be more favorable sounded even worse. It just didn't sit well with her.

_Maybe we're just looking at this the wrong way. I once heard from Yu-chan that prescriptions for this kind of stuff didn't outright change people's personality. It just allows people to function, whatever that means. Maybe it'll just make sure that Kagami doesn't feel any worse?_

Tsukasa was then snapped out of her daze when Kagami arrived from the living room. She looked okay, albeit bored. Following behind her was Matsuri, looking full of energy.

"Yo, family. Would you believe that I aced a test today?" Matsuri yelled cheerfully. "I can't believe it either."

"That's wonderful" Tsukasa and Miki replied with equal cheer. Kagami, however, said the same thing with a twinge of sarcasm.

"Hey, you act as it's a bad thing?" Matsuri grumbled at Kagami.

"…Sorry." Kagami sighed. "Congrats on the test" She muttered before taking her seat at the table.

Matsuri blinked as she stared at Kagami. She threw a questioning look at Tsukasa and Miki. The two could only smile sadly at the Hiiragi middle child. Matsuri was sufficiently sobered by their answer. She joined Kagami in sitting down. The other two followed suit and the four waited for eldest and patriarch to arrive.

**LUCKY STAR**

The cosplay cafe that Konata worked at was experiencing a calm before the metaphorical storm. It was mere minutes before the lunch rush hour and they were expecting a big turn out. After all, it was Saturday. The weekends _always_ brought the most amount of people through their doors the moment lunch starts. But until then, the employees were having a little chat.

Konata wore a blue shirt and skirt, with white gloves, blue boots, and a long flowing white cape. Her midrift was exposed and held a blue gem, while her hair had a hair clip which was designed to look like music notes. Patricia wore a yellow sailor uniform, a beret, and knee-high boots. She wore her hair in twin drills and had a gem clipped at the base of one of them. Together, they sat at a table with Hiyori as the artist scribbled furiously at her sketchpad.

"So, how's the relationship going for you two?" Konata asked, sounding more bored than curious.

"You could say we reached a sort of disagreement" Patricia said in mock innocence.

This caught Konata's interest. She glanced at Hiyori who was still drawing, albeit drawing a lot more angrily than she was earlier. Whatever that disagreement was, Hiyori must have been the one who received the shorter end of the stick.

"And what exactly _is_ the disagreement about?" Konata asked Patricia

"I'd rather not say…" She answered cryptically.

Konata glanced back to Hiyori who looked up at her sketchpad. "I'm not talking if she isn't." She said before curtly looking back down and drawing with even more intensity.

Peering at the drawing, Konata saw a lot of blood and guts, and even more mechanical monstrosities devouring said blood and guts. As cool as it looked to the bluenette, it made her even more curious as to why Hiyori was so angry.

"What about you? You in the clear with the whole money problems" Patricia asked

Konata blinked. While she expected Patricia to move the topic to something not about them, she did not expect it to move to the subject of her financial position. Granted, her problems aren't as bad as it used to be – her dad's new job paid a lot, apparently – but it still wasn't something she was comfortable talking about. Then again, they were her friends. Why not, right?

"Well, dad got a new job. It actually pays pretty well. We aren't having that much trouble anymore"

"Oh! That's great" The two were genuinely glad that the bluenette's family was on their way back to a comfortable living situation.

Not that it was ever as uncomfortable as Konata made it out to be. A few months without anime and video games weren't all that bad. She and Yutaka were still eating alright thanks to Tsukasa and Minami, and, because of the need for her to save electricity, she was finally getting a good night's rest – no more raids with her mmo guild that lasted hours upon hours into the night.

Of course, she'd never say that. Regardless of the benefits she gained from her somewhat difficult monetary issues, anime and games were deeply woven into her life style. It took her literally months to adjust to not having any anime to watch or video games to play at any given moment. She was unwilling to say that the benefits outweighed the drawbacks.

That said, even though she and the rest of the Izumi household were finally in a position where they could go back to that way of life, the season they spent in their current lifestyle left them unable to go back.

Konata still wanted anime. She still wanted video games. She still wanted so much that she was unwilling to say that she was better off without it. Yet, she was presented with a chance to return to watching and playing as much as she wanted – to go back to her old way of life – and chose not to take it. And the chance was still there, like an open invitation of sorts. Why was she not accepting it? She did not know.

"So what kind of job IS it?" Hiyori asked, finally closing her sketchpad, discarding all of her drawings. Her works were strewn across the floor in crumpled and ripped pieces, most probably done to piss Patricia off. It was working

Konata eyed Hiyori with annoyance as she was sure Patricia would refuse to clean it up and it would fall on herself to pick them up and throw it to the trash – the blonde's smile-glare of murderous intent was a good indicator of that. Konata sighed and answered the question.

"What…" The two said.

Their response was as expected: disbelief of medium caliber – surprise but not complete disbelief. Konata sighed. Sometimes her friends were entirely predictable.

"So… what… is he some sort of prostitute?" Patty asked with incredible bluntness.

The bluenette frowned. Thinking back, hiring prostitutes actually costed _less_ than renting a man. Besides, prostitutes are for sex. The rent a man thing is for companionship, which, understandably, was severely lacking for a lot of people. Just up and calling a friend-for-hire a prostitute is like calling one of your actual friends a dirty whore. Still, Patricia probably didn't understand so Konata took the patience to educate her on the matter.

"Wow… I didn't know that was a thing here…"

"Me neither until this summer when I was helping dad get a job" Konata laughed. "I told him about it as a joke. I never thought he'd actually do it."

"Well, it does pay well." Hiyori commented.

"Hell yeah, it pays well" Patricia agreed enthusiastically. "Is there something like that for young women?"

"As opposed to middle aged men?" Konata asked with a chuckle. "I don't know. You're gonna have to go job hunting."

"Everyone, the customers are entering the building. Rush hour is here" From the door, a short girl in a black and white school uniform, with a red ribbon in her long flowing black hair and a round shield on her left arm called out. "Everyone get ready" She said with a troubled monotone

"Hiyori, you better go to the employee lounge. This is gonna be a lot of people" Patricia told the raven haired girl, to which said girl responded with a nod and walked off.

"That was sweet of you, Patty." Konata cooed.

"Yes. I try to be nice." Patricia replied, somewhat annoyed. "I sure hope she appreciates it"

"I'm sure she does. I hope you appreciate her, too" Konata slapped her cheeks and bounced on the balls of her feet. "ALRIGHT. Let's do this."

The doors opened and customers flooded in

**LUCKY STAR**

Inside Minami's room was Miyuki, sitting quietly on the bed, hands laid gently on her lap. Her eyes were aimed somewhere else – somewhere distant and unseeable. Her focus was directed inward, to half formed thoughts and ideas that so often plagued her mind – on that particular day, it was the _what ifs_ and _what to dos_ for various scenarios she played out in her head. Yet, even in her day dream, Miyuki was completely aware of her surroundings – the first time she's ever managed to do that as she's normally too lost to notice reality. When the door opened, her eyes refocused and greeted the one who entered.

"Hello, Yutaka-san."

"Hello, Miyuki-senpai" Yutaka replied.

The red head's response was cheerful and enthusiastic, not that different from what it normally sounded like. But she still had that tension – that all too familiar tension – that she tended to have when staying at the Iwasaki and Takara estates. Yukari was regularly unpleasant with her so she and Minami ended up deciding it was for the best if Yutaka did not visit as often. Yutaka was inclined to agree. But now, maybe three weeks or so since the last visit, perhaps the red head was unsure as to what she was about to face and was, understandably, nervous. Miyuki knew, though, and it wasn't as bad as Yutaka assumed.

"So, do you feel nervous?"

Yutaka nodded shyly. "A bit…" She squeaked.

"Don't be. Rest assured, nothing bad will be happening later." Miyuki said with a reassuring smile. "Besides, I'm here and Minami is here. We'll be right by your side"

The red head smiled. "Thanks…"

Miyuki glanced at the mint haired girl who was standing between Yutaka and the door. "Say, Minami. Would you care for a short game? Checkers, perhaps?"

Minami tilted her head in thought. "I don't see why not…" She walked to the closet and rummaged for the checker board.

Miyuki then turned back to Yutaka. "Feel free to take a seat." She suggested with a slight chuckle. "Relax. The battle you think you'll be having isn't until later"

"Ah, yeah…!"

Yutaka quietly took a seat in the middle of the bed. Minami laid the board right next to Yutaka and sat opposite to Miyuki. The two began setting the pieces.

Miyuki eye smiled as she picked up her first piece. "Let the games begin."

**LUCKY STAR**

Lunch at the Kusakabe household was quiet. Perhaps the quietest it's ever been. The two grandparents had gone on a short visit to some of their nephews and nieces – Masaru and Misao's aunt and uncles – and would be gone for most of the weekend. The parents weren't home either. Thus, the three had the house all to themselves.

"So, you cooked this, Masaru?" Ayano asked after she swallowed the food she had been chewing. "This tastes like your cooking" The boy nodded with a grunt and continued eating. "It's really good" Another nod and grunt.

Ayano frowned. _Why won't he pay me any attention…?_ She glanced at Misao who was shoveling rice and meat into her mouth, practically shredding it with the speed she ate. _And Misao won't pay me any attention either…_

As orange haired girl glanced between the two Kusakabes, she couldn't help but feel a certain disconnect. For the longest time, the three of them had been friends but very few times had they remained in any kind of silence like the one they were experiencing. It was possibly the worst thing Ayano had ever felt.

Misao stood up and excused herself, leaving Masaru and Ayano at the table. This was nothing new. They were quite used to Misao finishing first. What they weren't used to was the monotone "I'm done" she muttered as she left. They heard Misao deposit her dishes at the sink and then climb up the stairs. Each footstep, they listened to in silence. None of them ate or said a word until the faint sound of Misao's door closing triggered Ayano to release the breath of air she didn't even know she was holding in.

With a sigh, she continued picking at her food with her chopsticks.

"She missed practice this morning." Masaru muttered. Looking up from her food, Ayano met his gaze. He was still facing his plate but his eyes were looking boredly at the girl. "She slept in and missed track practice" He repeated.

Ayano frowned. "Oh…"

What was she supposed to say? She was surprised, certainly, but Masaru seemed to want something more – something else. He wanted a reaction. But again, what was she supposed to say? What did he _want_ her to say?

"That's surprising…" Masaru gave her a look. "Well, what do you want me to say? I can't read your mind."

He grunted and went back to eating. His face was in a scowl as he chewed. Ayano could almost hear the things going through his mind. The things that were somehow created in the world inside Masaru's head always seemed to anger Ayano. They always felt like they were insults directed at her. It didn't help that he'd always plead guilty to her accusations of ill thoughts towards her, not that he ever outright stated it.

"For the longest time, you've been acting like you _can_ read my mind. I don't see why this would be any different." Masaru muttered. "You're doing it right now."

"Alright, Masaru. What is your problem?" Ayano asked, voice clear and sharp, gaining that familiar edge it had whenever she was keeping her temper in check. "Just tell me what the problem is. We've been dating for three years. How long will it be before you'll finally respect me enough to do that?"

Masaru retaliated. "About as long as it takes you to stop threatening me with violence when you don't get what you want."

"I am not violent!" Ayano yelled.

The boy sighed and looked at her with tired eyes. "Then everything you told me was just a lie? An empty threat?"

"No, just… Ahhhhhg!"

There was nothing much Ayano could do. She didn't want to hurt him, but it was very difficult for her to hold back. Masaru had a lot coming to him but she knew she'd end up going too far if she ever gave it to him. She remembered yesterday, when she had kidded him again and again. Masaru still had bruises. It was too much – far too much.

"What's the problem, Masaru…?" Ayano sighed in defeat.

"My problem is you. This relationship has reached its end and your the only one who's still trying to hold on. I'll still admit that I care about you, but this whole boyfriend thing is starting to get old."

"But… but I love you. We've been together for years. You can't just leave me"

"And I won't be – I'll be right here, not going anywhere. And I love you to, just not _that_ way." He put down his chop sticks and stood up. "My question is, do _you_ love me in that way? Think hard on that and maybe the solution to your little problem will present itself."

"What problem!?"

"Exactly." he walked away with a lazy salute. "Excuse me"

"What problem…?" Ayano asked again as she glumly looked at her food. Alone she sat at the table, in an empty and quiet house. "What problem…?"

**LUCKY STAR**

The blond head of Nanako Kuroi opened the door and was greeted with an energetic smile and hello by the ocean blue head of Yui Narumi. The history teacher had called the traffic officer to visit and sometime, and so there they were at the door to Kuroi's apartment, exchanging pleasantries.

"You have a guest in there? I think I can hear someone" Yui said, peering inside, somewhat curious.

"Why don't ya come in and find out?" Kuroi threw an arm over the bluenette's shoulder and pushed her inside. "Ain't everyday that I have friends over, so I hope you forgive the mess. Anyway, I want to introduce you to someone you already know."

"Already know?"

Yui was one of the few friends Kuroi had that was within her age group. Well, one of the few that she's actually met in real life. All the others are either her students, i.e. a lot younger, or people she had only met online, i.e. people she hasn't met in real life. It was really a shame. Back in college, she was a bit of a party animal. Any gathering was a lot more fun when she was around. Not that it amounted to much – none of her friends from college stayed for long. Yui, however, wasn't a college friend, though she acted a whole lot like the ones she once had. She was simple, and a bit childish, but those qualities were extremely endearing to Kuroi. She found a lot of amusement in watching the bluenette's reactions to the various tall tales she spun whenever the two went out to drink. Speaking of reactions, the way she reacted to Kuroi's guest was extremely amusing.

"Uncle, what the heck are you doing here!?"

Sojiro Izumi sat at the table in front of the TV, a surprised look on his face. In his hands was a controller that was dropped onto the table in shock. "Yui…" He turned to Kuroi "The friend you were having over was my niece?"

Kuroi laughed. "Man, you should see the look on your faces. Both your reactions are priceless." She headed for the table. "Yui, c'mon and sit down. Watch as I whoop this geezer in Smash Brothers"

Sojiro looked at her, insulted. "Geezer? Alright, woman, it's on!" He picked up his controller, face filled with determination.

Yui just stood there, completely confused. "Isn't uncle supposed to be at work?" She mumbled.

"I _am_ at work. Kurio-san's my client."

"… Oh."

**LUCKY STAR**

"I'll do the dishes" Honoka happily took all of the plates and utensils and brought them into the kitchen.

Lunch had been exactly as Minami had expected. Yutaka was nervous during the entire meal as she was still wary of Yukari. Likewise, Yukari was still nervous about how accepting Yutaka would be. The two had built up an aversion to each other over the course of four months and, now that they were on their way to reconciliation, they were hesitant to open up to each other.

Minami, despite experiencing the very same unpleasant vibes given off by the older pinkette, was not as aversed to Yukari as Yutaka saw. She did not know if she just built up a resistance or if it was because she had a better understanding of the situation at hand. Either way, she felt comfortable around Yukari now. Hopefully that feeling would transfer to Yutaka as well.

"First and foremost, I'd like to apologize for those months of… unpleasant behavior I put you through." Yukari said, voice somewhat shaken. She was obviously nervous.

Minami nodded silently. Her reasons were somewhat justified and she was genuinely sorry. The mint haired girl didn't hold it against her. Yutaka however…

"I… I don't know why but I'm having a hard time forgiving you…"

Minami glanced at the red head girl. The look of confusion and pain on her face was worrying – worsened by the way she gripped on Minami's hand under the table as tight as she could. That fact that she couldn't forgive Yukari doesn't seem to sit well with her.

"I don't know why… I just can't…"

Minami frowned. This was not going as planned. She did not expect that Yutaka could not forgive Yukari – not in a million years would she ever expect that. Yutaka seems just as surprised by that fact, if not moreso. She looked just about ready to break down.

"Yutaka…" What was Minami supposed to say? She didn't know. This was the first time this ever happened. "I… how…" She couldn't even begin to say what she had on mind.

Miyuki came to the rescue, so to speak. "If I may, Yutaka, but how are you right now? How do you feel?"

"I… I don't know… I'm…" She answered shakily.

"Confused, yes? We're right here Yutaka. Just let it all out." Miyuki stole a look at Minami as the pinkette held Yutaka's hand. Minami took the hint and scooted closer to Yutaka. "We're right here."

Yukari was also in a state of mild panic. First, her apology was shot down, and now, Yutaka was having what could be assumed to be a psychological break down. She did not expect what happened and she was far from prepared.

"I… I want to forgive her but… I just can't… Why…? I'm scared…"

"It's alright if you don't understand. You don't need to accurately describe it in words. Just let it all out." Miyuki whispered, gently rubbing Yutaka's head.

"I-I'm supposed to be able to forgive her… W-why can't I…? This is wrong… I don't like this…"

Miyuki and Minami's eyes met at the instance she stuttered that sentence. _That was it. The problem has presented itself to us._ Minami knew the exact thing to say.

"It's okay not to forgive someone. You don't need to…" Minami said softly. "You can forgive once you're ready. Til then, it's okay. It's never too late."

"But…"

"Think of Konata-senpai."

"Onee-chan?"

"Think of her." Minami pulled her into an embrace. "You told me she and her father are in bad terms right now. She still hasn't forgiven him"

"But… she said… she said she'd need a long time to forgive him…"

"How is that different from right now?"

Yutaka blinked. The tears in her eyes, so close to flowing down her cheeks, eventually faded. "Oh…" A simple syllable conveyed how she felt almost perfectly.

"Oh…?" Minami smiled and pulled Yutaka into an embrace. "Do you feel better now?"

"… a bit…"

Minami turned to Yukari who had turned white as a sheet. It was a bit concerning. "Are you okay…?"

"Yes. I'm just a bit faint hearted. I do not deal very well with stressful situations…" Yukari said, breathing deeply. She turned to Yutaka "You don't need to forgive me. If the time ever comes that you accept my apology, then I'd be grateful."

Yutaka nodded quietly.

 _They're both still a little shocked._ Minami noted. _Thankfully, Miyuki managed to contain the situation before it got out of hand. She was completely prepared for this._ She looked at said pinkette and shot her a questioning look _Why is that?_ Miyuki eye smiled at her and tapped her forehead. _You've been thinking about this for a long time, haven't you?_ Minami closed her eyes solemnly. _You have my thanks, nee-san._

"Oh, Yukari, have you told her yet?" Honoka asked, walking into the room. Then she noticed the rather tense atmosphere – tenser than it was when she left. "What did I miss…?"

Minami glanced around. Yukari and Yutaka were still recovering and Miyuki seemed to be content just sitting quietly. The mint haired girl took that as the signal to speak.

"Ahem" With a cough, she got everyone's attention. "Now that Yukari has apologized, shall we proceed to talk about the reason Yutaka was brought here in the first place?"

The ones in the loop looked at each other – and the ones in the loop was everyone except Yutaka. Miyuki nodded. Honoka nodded. Yukari nodded. All of them nodded. Honoka walked towards the table and sat next to Yukari.

"Yutaka… Did you know that I once dated your mother?" Honoka asked.

A look of realization slowly dawned on the red head's face. "Wait… you mean…"

"You and Minami are the splitting image of Yuki and I."

"That's my mother's name…" Yutaka breathed.

"It made me a bit… nostalgic… so to speak." Honoka said, guilt lining the edge of her voice. "I began teasing Yukari like I did all those years ago. It was all in good fun. I didn't realize how much it was hurting her and, by proxy, hurting you." She closed her eyes and bowed her head. "So I apologize as well"

"Eh…?" Yutaka blinked. "… Okay…?"

Minami looked at Yutaka with concern. _She looks more confused than anything else. It's not a bad thing but it isn't exactly a good thing either. Let's just hope she can handle the next bit of information we'll be giving her._

"I'd also like to thank you as well"

"Wha…?"

"If it wasn't for you, I'd have never realized that Yukari still had lingering feelings for me." Honoka chuckled. "Even after all these years. I was certainly surprised."

"How do you think _I_ feel?" Yukari cut in. "For the longest time, I thought I've gotten over you. Then you go and light my fire once more." She looked at the rest of the girls and shurnk back. "Sorry. Please continue…"

Honoka continued. "What surprised me even more if realizing that I still had feelings for Yukari as well."

"Uhhh…" Yutaka shook her head in confusion. "Please, this is a bit too much. Could I please have a glass of water first…"

Minami, quick as lightning, brought out a thermos of lukewarm tea and handed her a cup. This was not the first time Yutaka had required something to drink. At one point in the first trimester, after a particularly confusing history lecture, the redhead was suffering from a terrible headache. Minami took her to the nurse and she recommended a cup of tea. It worked before, and sure enough, it worked now.

"Thank you, Minami…" Yutaka said meekly. "…Now… Could you start from the top again? I might be able to understand now"

Miyuki gave a brief summary of what Honoka was talking about, from how Yukari and Honoka were once a couple to how Yutaka was related to the entire incident.

"…I… I never knew my mom dated girls…" Yutaka muttered, still somewhat lost in the situation.

Minami couldn't blame her. It was certainly a lot to take in. Her own mother once dating the mother of her current girlfriend? It was bordering on soap opera levels of absurdity. It was so unlikely that the mint haired girl didn't really believe it at first. Yutaka must have been experiencing the same kind of disbelief Minami herself had experienced.

"I'm also confused about this. You two love each other, right?" Yutaka asked the two adults.

Yukari and Honoka glanced at each other, both of them blushing somewhat.

"Yes, you could you that…" Honoka said, a bit hesitant and unsure.

"Yes, we love each other very much" Yukari said with conviction – in stark contrast to Honoka's answer.

Silence passed for maybe two beats. The two blinked and they realized what they just said, erupting in a brilliant blush.

"This feelings is quite exhilarating. It has been a long time since I've ever felt my heart beat like this…" Honoka commented, to which Yukari nodded quietly. Of the two, Honoka seemed to be the one more in control of her own emotions as Yukari was burying her face in her hands and taking deep breaths to calm herself.

Yutaka smiled and turned to Minami. The two adults were cute and the younger couple were in agreement at that fact. Yutaka then turned back to the two adults and asked another question.

"What about your husbands? Don't you love them too?"

The two sobered up quickly and another awkward silence passed. "Well…" Honoka began. "We _do_ still love them…"

"It gets a little complicated once you take our husbands into account…" Yukari explained.

Yutaka turned to Miyuki. The younger pinkette simply sighed and expounded on what they were saying. It was certainly interesting...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look! A chapter whose foci (plural of focus) are people who aren't Kagami Hiiragi. Amazing, isn't it!? When was the last time that happened? Way back in chapter 2 and 3 of A Midsummer's Dream. Wow... Just... wow
> 
> Take a guess at what Ayano's problem is. I'm sure I sprinkled enough foreshadowing over the course of this series for you guys to know what it is… Okay, maybe I may have needed to add bit more foreshadowing. Still...
> 
> Yutaka's side of the story is finally ramping up. I apologize to any and everyone who feels like that the last section with Minami had progressively gotten worse as the scene went on. I did my best, but I simply wasn't feeling it for that section. It's completely possible that it's not even all that bad and I'm the only one that thinks this, though…
> 
> Well, so ends one arc and so begins another. I'll see you next one


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